


Threshold

by koalaoshiz



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, Ghosts, Kelpies, M/M, Mind Games, Paranormal Investigations, Scopophobia, Stairs are evil, THEY'RE DORKS, Vomiting, faes, getting together through hardships, graphic gore, major character death (in a way)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:00:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 38,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21586510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/koalaoshiz/pseuds/koalaoshiz
Summary: Paranormal Hunters Voltron is a team of five friends: Shiro, Keith, Hunk, Lance and Pidge; who are famous on the internet for their webseries of the same name.  They investigate haunted places, trying to either debunk the existence of the supernatural or prove it. On their latest trip to Hummel Park in Nebraska where they are set to film numerous locations renowned for their frequent ghost apparitions, they end up getting more than they thought.  Accidentally stepping inside the Fae Court causes secrets to be revealed, tests their abilities and now have to try to get out without dying. Will the change in their realties bring them closer or shatter everything?
Relationships: Hunk/Keith (Voltron), Lance/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 14
Kudos: 26





	1. world above

**Author's Note:**

> This has been one stressful beast but by god it'(s _finished_!!!  
> I've spent do much time on it, nearly crying because of time limits but my team has been absolutely delightful and kept me going through thick and thin and I can't thank them enough for that.  
> I hope you find this story to your taste and it inspires people to write more content for the fandom, that my love for the characters shine through and, most of all, that you enjoy every last bits of it~  
> For the Stories in the Dark Bang!
> 
> EDIT:  
> Finally been able to add the pictures to the story!  
> This first art in this chapter was made by the wonderful Crafty-Scrafty !!  
> And the second one was made by the lovely [Pythagoreanpineaple](https://pythagoreanpineapple.tumblr.com/post/189343679162/my-pieces-for-the-storiesinthedarkbang-i-had) !!! Please be sure to go on their pages and spread love to them because this fic would be nothing without their help.  
> And I also cannot thank [ Michelle](https://galrafloofandlove.tumblr.com/) who was my beta for the bang and very patient with me while I was panicking about my writing!

Voltron: Paranormal Hunters was their pride and joy. They had begun slow, posting every two months or so and slowly gaining a close knitted fanbase. The five of them loved their odd job and couldn’t quite think of doing something else in their free time. Everyone had a part in it: Pidge and her brother Matt would find the place, Lance would use his charms to get them access to it from the owners, Hunk would tend to the equipment, Shiro would use his historical knowledge to have them safely explore the house and Keith would then edit the video and post it. 

They would bicker and not always see things the same way but their friendship was made to last, as Lance had said a dozen times now and searching for ghosts and other mythical beings were their calling. This always prompted Keith to add a remark or two on the validity of his assurance in which Lance always replied that there was another world only accessible via another sense altogether. No one seemed to really believe him except for Pidge but her inputs weren’t really to be accounted for as she had extreme belief Mothman was real and owed her money.

They travelled far and wide in the country to record anything supernatural. 

So that's why they were checking in a motel in Nebraska, getting used to their surroundings as they had a full week of filming ahead of them. The motel itself was a small thing that looked rundown from the outside but was apparently well cared for. A family business as it written inside the reception. The L-shaped building was an off white with purple paint and a similar scheme color inside the rooms themselves. 

Shiro and Keith were sharing a room, Hunk and Lance shared another one and Pidge had a room for herself and all the more cumbersome equipment. No one complained about the room arrangements as it was usually how they split. 

After settling in their room, Keith took Lance with him to a nearby coffee shop where they had a meeting scheduled with their future guide as they would be travelling in a zone they could easily get lost in. Rumor was several people got attacked inside of the area and were never heard or seen from again. 

Their guide was a sweet girl named Shay, whose brother was watching several seats further away from them, a heated glare fixated on the both of them. 

“Thanks for meeting us.” Lance said, his tone smooth and light. Nearly flirtatious. Keith felt the urge to roll his eyes at this but he knew Lance wasn’t serious in his endeavor. 

“It’s no problem.” She answered, moving her cup of coffee so she could take a sip of it. “The mail you sent me was very detailed and Rax and I watch your videos. We’re fans, if you’d like, so it’s very exciting being able to help you with your work.”

Lance laughed at that, eyes sparkling with something that was kinda like embarrassment even if he didn’t show any of it to her. 

“You’re too sweet, Shay. It’s very exciting for us as well. All those disappearances and the mystery behind it was really attractive. Do you think it’s just people getting lost or is there something more to it?”

Shay’s expression fell a little as her eyes darted to the sides, as if checking no one was listening too closely to them. 

“I don’t really know. There’s a strange vibe to it all and Rax overheard a police officer saying that there were more people disappearing lately but none of them locals. Always tourists or people in passing. Very shady stuff.”

“Ooh, I got the chills.” Lance shuddered, perhaps a bit too fakely. But there was a frown to his face showing how it made his cautious. “You sure you’ll be ok guiding us tonight?”

Shay nodded, locking eyes with her brother across the room. Keith followed the gaze to see the man looking like he was sulking a bit. That felt kind of strange but Keith let it pass. After all, he didn’t know the man.

“How do you feel about the whole situation?” Lance asked, his tone more serious than previously. 

“It…” Shay seemed to be mulling over her words, visibly searching for her words. “It feels like something is going to happen? There’s an uncomfortable undercurrent to it but it doesn’t feel dangerous.” 

Lance hummed besides him and the noise of his nails tapping the table in rhythm wasn’t really pleasant but Keith knew that Lance only did that when he was mulling over the next course of action so he let it be, as annoying as it was. 

“Well, we did come all this distance to be able to film the place. If you think there’s nothing too dangerous for us I don’t see why we should pack the bags we just put down and leave.”

Shay giggled at that and Keith was sure he saw a glint of yellow in her eyes, but he quickly shook that out of his mind. There were a lot of cars rolling up and down the streets so it wouldn’t be too hard to think it was just the reflection of one in her eyes. 

“We trust your judgment.” Keith simply said, drinking his own coffee. Lance had taken a tea because he found the taste of coffee disgusting. “We will introduce you to the team when we meet you again tonight.” 

Shay nodded and Keith got up, gesturing Lance to follow him which he did with a pout. He knew that Lance usually disliked drinking while walking but they still had a lot to do before their next meeting. Lance was grumbling besides him as they were walking back to the motel, which was at a good ten minute by foot. 

“Are you worried?” He asked his friend who glanced at him from behind his cup of tea. Lance shrugged, his blue eyes quickly scanning around them.

“I dunno.” He answered, “She didn’t seem that concerned about it, more because it’s our safety and her responsibility? If one of us sprain an ankle, I’m pretty sure she would not stop blaming herself.”

Keith hummed at this answer, his cup of coffee still warm in his hand. He was taking sips of it as he walked, seeing that Lance took advantages of the red lights and other stops in their walk to drink his tea. As weird as it was, it wasn’t as odd as seeing him sleep standing upright and seemingly finding that totally normal. 

“Also that wouldn’t be the first time we go to an area that was kind of dangerous.” Lance pointed out, “remember that asylum?”

“Uugh yeah..” Keith groaned, gripping Lance’s jacket before he got run over by a car from jaywalking. “The flooring was completely shit and that guy was crazy. It wasn’t even a ghost for fuck sake! I’m so glad the police came before he killed one of us.”

“Yeah…” And Lance looked quite somber right now, the events surely replaying in his mind. Keith didn’t have to think too much about it because he didn’t want to. It had been horrible enough.

“But that’s why we double check our guides!” Lance said again, chipper again. “And Shay definitely is someone we could trust. And she’s very lovely too. Wouldn’t mind giving her a ride.” 

Keith made a disgusted face as Lance wiggled his eyebrows in his direction. Why were they even friends at this point? 

“I can’t believe - weren’t you trying to woo Shiro? What happened to that big crush of yours?” Keith countered, shoving Lance playfully. He got hip-checked right back by his friend and he had to sidestep a bit as not to fall down. For someone as lanky as Lance, he was stronger than he looked. Deceptively so. 

And on things being deceptive about Lance was his talent for always getting people to like him, even a little. It was rare for someone to outright reject him when he flashed his baby blue eyes to them, the magnetic pull of their strong color charming everyone. It was like magic. 

But since magic didn’t exist (as ghosts), it must be because Lance was someone attractive. Keith didn’t even try to deny it because he had a small crush on him several years ago. It had faded away quickly but there was always that little voice in his head that was telling him that, if ever Lance had to ask something of him, Keith would do it, no questions asked. Whatever it might be. Frankly, it was quite scary. 

“You took your sweet time.” Pidge’s voice made him jump as even Lance was startled. Turning his head, Keith realized they were now in the parking of the motel and Pidge had appeared from behind them, a bag on her back. She must have snuck out on them from behind their cars and distracted as he was, Keith didn’t see her. “Everything good for tonight?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine.” Lance said as Keith started to walk again towards his room, throwing a glance at Lance giving the finer details to Pidge. Good thing that he was there to remember tiny things. He was generally a good judge of character but pretty looks could be his downfall. Pidge had yelled at him after the Nyma incident, saying how stupid he had been to trust a salamander. 

After that, time passed quickly as they prepared themselves for their filming, inspecting the cameras, batteries and torches, verifying twice each object because any mistakes could be a liability. A beginner’s mistake could make them end in the hospital. 

The time they arrived at the entry of the forest, Hummel Park, the sun was beginning to set behind the horizon, painting the sky with pink, light purple and dark blues that Pidge captured with her camera. The ride was fairly short but they liked to have their followers participate in their journey to their destination. 

Shay was already waiting for them when they arrived and she happily helped them get their belongings out of the trunk of their cars, making small comments on their equipments and giggling as Lance was going back at flirting with them. Keith knew Shiro was jealous and upset by that so he threw a quick kick to Lance so he would focus on the matter at hand.

“We’re ready to go whenever, lover-boy.” He told him snarkily, showing the others waiting for the both of them. 

“Sheesh, ok. Who called the fun police, here?”

“Don’t worry, Lance. You’ll have a better chance next time.” Pidge said placidically, focused on trying to fix her mike to her shirt. It was askew but holding on. 

“Is that a Balmera crystal?” Hunk asked to Shay as his torchlight shone over her and reflected on it. “I have one too! It’s very rare to see so I’m pretty proud of me for having it.”

“Really?” Shay smiled as she looked over Hunk’s bracelet where the small stone was embedded in a bracelet. “Oh, it is! This one seems purer than most, too.”

“Yeah, that’s what the lapidary I showed it to told me. He also said I should keep it on me if I continued going to haunted places and all as it would protect me. So far? I guess that was true.”

Shiro was looking at them, an impatient expression on his face. He seemed like he really wanted to go explore and film but was stopping himself to be polite. But Shay must have sensed it because she quickly rounded them up and led them into the forest, following a path that looked more used by animals than humans. 

The forest around them was noisy and somewhat comfortable, filled with all sorts of auditory distractions you could think of. The wind in the branches, in the leaves. The small chatters of squirrels and the hooting of owls. Bushes shaking from small prey animals fleeing their presences. The dirt path being beaten under their feet. It felt like any forest he went to but... at night. 

“Where are the devil’s stairs?” Pidge asked, shifting the cone of light of her torchlight from sides to sides and illuminating the trees in a creepy fashion. The trunks looked like skeletons with their arms extended towards them and long, grabbing fingers. Keith liked that type of atmosphere. 

“Do we really have to start with the stairs?” Lance whined, slowing down in a form of protest but not enough to have Shiro smack into him. “You know I hate stairs.”

“You shouldn't have eaten my pineapple slices, then.” She answered gleefully, laughing at the middle fingers Lance raised her way. That was an unspoken rule - well, unspoken after a lot of threats - that no one touched Pidge's snack. Another one had been that no fruits should be left in Lance's vicinity if you didn't want him to eat them. This was bound to happen and Keith was pretty sure Pidge did it on purpose. 

“You left them on my seat! And when I asked you about them you just shrugged! You set me up, you demon!” 

“That's what I thought you'd say, you dumb fucking horse.”

“I hope your phone fall in a lake.” Lance grumbled, shooting daggers at her. 

“Now that's hurtful. I'm dying a little bit more inside.” She snarked, sending him a wry smile. Of course she would set him up. They all knew of his dislike of stairs and how he was always whining and extra careful when walking up or down one, but no one really knew why. 

“You can cling to Shiro while we walk them down.” Hunk said, albeit a bit absent-mindedly. “It worked wonders last time, didn't it?”

Keith rolled his eyes at that and smirked to himself. If he could high-five Hunk without getting the brunt of Lance's grouching then he would. But he didn't want to alienate his friend just yet. After all, they had all night for it, in this creepy forest.

“Ok pretty boy, work your magic.” Hunk exclaimed, bringing the camera back up and towards Lance who threw a nasty glare in his direction before focusing his attention on the camera. 

“And action.” Shiro solemnly said. 

“Hummel Park. A place full of secrets, full of ghosts and unsuited to hikes in the dark.” Lance said to the camera, voice dark and serious. “We are here tonight to discover the mysteries behind it all and discover the truth of the dozen of disappearances that happened there for now several decades. Not only is the Park itself something to be wary of by night, places deep inside of it catches the interest of tourists, setting traps for them. Never allowing them back to civilisation. We are accompanied tonight by the lovely Shay, who is currently guiding us towards the Devil’s stairs."

“Legends says that the number of stairs changes whenever you count them up and down and some tells it can lead you to another reality where you are trapped forever, unable to go back home. Yours truly are going to step down the stairs and film everything for your delight; Pidge and Hunk have the EMFs and other recorders to catch any ghosts and Shiro and Keith will provide protection against any evil spirits that wants to hurt us. I, Lance the Blue Paladin will be your eye-candy for the trip.” He winked as he said that, masterfully weaving through the path backward with Shiro’s help. 

Lance continued his presentation of the Devil’s stairs, until he went out of material to use and made a cut gesture to indicate where to edit the footage after the night. They idly chatted with Shay for the rest of the walk, Pidge grumbling she should have brought a vest with her as she got chilly easier than them. This prompted Hunk to offer her one of his vest who looked hilariously oversized on her small frame. 

The atmosphere stayed good natured until they reached the area where the trees parted to form a sort of glade that looked out of the ordinary. The trees looked as if they had been pushed by something quite powerful, bending away from the where the stairs where but not looking broken or dead. 

"That’s soooo strange.” Hunk said, filming the place. “It’s like they want to get as far away from the place as possible.”

“Those ones can’t move away tho.” Lance answered, knocking on the trunk of one of the trees. “So they did the next best thing, I guess.”

Now that was a strange thing to say but frankly? That was Lance. He was always saying strange things.

“You mean… the trees are afraid of something so they lean away?” Shiro asked, his voice soft. The place was so strange looking that its atmosphere made them weirdly aware of something even if they couldn’t put their fingers on what that was. But they would be doing their best not to disturb it too much. 

“Trees are too stupid to be afraid.” Pidge scoffed, passing under branches, extended towards the sky like pleading hands. If the trees further up the path had seemed strong and impressive, these ones were seemingly striking but in the opposite way. Their leaves hung from their branches, curled inward as if not nurrished enough and the trees themselves looked kind of sick. 

“People were speculating there is something in the ground that isn’t of the trees taste.” Shay said, trying to diffuse the tense atmosphere. “Something that was buried when the stairs were made and well, people at the time didn’t really know that it could make the trees unwell. They aren’t sick, per say. They are more…”

“Disgusted?” Lance said, distracted by the flutter of the leaves in the wind. “That’s perfectly understandable. Stairs should never have been created.”

“Stop being so dramatic, Lance.” Hunk said, rolling his eyes. “And stop trying to anthropomorphize those trees.” 

“I dunno,” Pidge buted in, “maybe that’ll teach some assholes not to deforest if they knew that trees felt more profoundly even if more slowly than humans.”

Shay giggled at that, looking charmed by the idea. It didn’t quite sit right with Keith to seem someone so kind looking be swiped away by Pidge’s devious spirit. Even if he liked his friend, he was clearly aware she had a really limited sense of apathy for anyone that wasn’t part of her family or group or a friend. There were rare cases of acquaintances that she got along very well but they were few and in between.

Seeing them get along so smoothly was a bit worrying even if a little part of him wondered if it wasn’t because Pidge was finding Shay cute. Or kind enough to not mind too much her weird ways. Maybe Keith found it weird because Pidge had never been seen interested in anyone in the several years he had known her and now she was whispering something to Shay which made her laugh again and, yep, that was a proud smirk on Pidge's face. Definitely flirting.

That was definitely too strange for him, seeing Pidge on the verge of making googly eyes to someone. He had nothing against Shay, for the short moment they spent together she was a nice girl with a soft sense of humour. It was rather disturbing to see Pidge flex in front of someone like that. 

“Alright, we don’t have all night.” Shiro said, getting the attention of the group back on him. Lance was sulking beside him, throwing nasty glares where the stairs were located. “Hunk, I want you to take several shots of us walking down the stairs. Pidge you’ll go first with Keith to see if the stairs are stable enough. I’ll be carrying Lance.”

They began to move like a well oiled machine, assuming position without struggle before walking towards the stairs, waving at Shay who was going to stay in the glade in case they needed someone to go get help. Lance was a grumbling mess as always as he slinked his legs around Shiro’s chest, the man seemingly unbothered by his weight as he had several occasions to carry Lance on his back in the past. Keith always found the visual amusing. 

He shot a thumb up for Hunk and the camera before joining Pidge at the beginning of the stairs, looking at the worn wood with only a bit of worry. He knew the history of the stairs as they all had a report handed to them by Pidge and Shiro, as well as Lance who repeated all the information to the camera just a few minutes ago but it now sunk in that the stairs were old. Well built, sure but decades in the wood and subjected to harsh weather and diverse wild animals could play into the endurance of the stairs under their weight. 

Pidge began going down with the daring attitude of someone who doesn't care enough about her own survival to truly fear breaking her bones if the stairs collapsed under her and Keith had no other choice but to follow her, in a more careful way. He wasn’t very for going in the ER anytime soon. 

The stairs were creaking ominously under their combined weight but were stable enough they gave the go ahead for the rest of the group, making slow progress in their way down. 

When they had researched this specific ‘haunted place’ they had learned that, sometimes, there were more stairs than it should or there would be less. It was always changing but never by much. 

This descent, in contrary to what he thought, felt a lot longer than it should, the stairs stretching in front of his eyes to taunt him. Blinking hard had made the illusion disappear so he chalked it out on a trick from the light of the torch. 

Pidge nearly fell off the stairs after the twelfth, one of her foot catching on her heel suddenly. Without Keith’s fast reflexes, she would have probably rolled the rest of the flight and hurt herself. 

“What’s going on, Pidgey?” Lance taunted her. “Can’t walk tonight?”

“Hahaha. Says the guy that doesn’t even put a toe on stairs if he isn’t threatened by death. Or social humiliation.”

“Well, nearly seeing you fly down with the grace of an elephant, I’m very glad not to walk on those horrendous things. Shiro is very careful in where he goes, unlike _you_.”

“Oh yeah?” She clamored, visibly vibrating to fight Lance for the affront. but she stopped herself because Keith and her had finally reached the bottom of the stairs and they took several steps to let the other finish their descent. Lance jumped off Shiro’s back, thanking him with a smile before stretching and ignoring the menace that was Pidge, only a few steps from him. 

They seemed really into fighting one another yet again, which wasn’t something they needed right now. After all, if the atmosphere went sour just because of a few off handed remarks, then the quality of their video would plummet and nobody would be happy afterwards. Keith wasn’t even really doing it for views even if the money that came with it was appreciated, he liked the sense of adventure it gave him and the possibility to travel around the US along with his closest friends. 

“Where’s Shay?” Shiro asked, looking up towards the beginning of the stairs. Where the girl had been observing them during their descent was now dark and empty, void of any human presence. 

“Better yet, what happened to the stairs?” Hunk asked and Keith could hear the other gasps as he himself sucked in a breath. 

Gone were the simple slates of wood nailed together in a solid, yet aged structure. Gone were the traces of civilisations built so deep inside the forest. Instead were twisted and sinued roots, sticking out of the ground. The top of them were withered by time and polished by what could have only been hundreds of feet over the decades, rendering them smooth and flat. 

“They’re roots.” Lance whispered, his voice containing some traces of fear that Keith understood yet wasn’t feeling right now. This was strange, for sure but panicking wasn’t an option. If Shay was gone from her place up there then maybe she had run into trouble - or trouble had found her. They needed to get back up and get help. 

Keith might have seen one of those heavy, crooked roots move, just slightly but when he blinked, it was as if nothing happened. The dark and the low light might have played a trick on his eyes, simply.

“We need to go, right now.” Shiro said with his leader voice, herding them like a flock of sheep back towards the ‘stairs’, making sure everyone was in front of him. 

“Are we even allowed to go?” Pidge asked and Keith didn’t understand the question. Why wouldn’t they be allowed? It was just a weird staircase made of roots, there was nothing that was physically stopping them from walking up. 

“Maybe they haven’t realized we’re here yet,” Lance said with a shaky voice as he kept looking behind them, “I vote for going back up right now, immediately.”

“What are you even talking about?!” Keith shouted at him, uncomfortable from the tight grip Lance got on his arm. He looked even paler than before and wasn’t even looking in the stairs direction. 

Before Keith could do anything else, a sound resonated around them, shaking him and making his mind go blank. It was the sound of a french horn, hamped to two thousands, making the ground shake under its single note. He thought he could hear Pidge scream something but every other noise was drowned, covered by a mighty blanket. 

He wanted to throw up. 

When his vision came back to him, he found himself lying down on the ground, black spots swimming in his field of vision. He could hear someone retching beside him and he guessed it was Hunk. If he himself felt the need to do it, then Hunk wouldn’t be able to resist it. 

“Is everyone alright?” He could hear Shiro ask, voice shaky and weaker than he liked to hear. 

“I’m better.” Hunk answered, sounding exhausted and frightened. He was on his left, Keith saw while getting back up on his feet with difficulties. Pidge and Lance were shaking on his right and Shiro was looking over them like a mother hen. 

“I wish I could throw up.” Lance whined, looking horrible. He looked like he was one step from fainting. 

“Same.” Pidge added. She was fighting against a nosebleed, her sleeves soaking up the blood. She looked as frazzled as Lance and Hunk while Shiro and himself were looking mostly fine. 

“OH no. No no no no nono!” Hunk whined, working himself into a panic; He was pointing behind Keith and one by one they were met with the most disturbing vision in his whole life. 

Where he had assumed were sturdy if old roots replacing the aging staircase was now a never ending sea of trees, perfectly smooth in its terrain with no traces of the plateau they walked down from. Only trees as far as his eyes could see and nowhere to get back home from. 

“That’s bad. That’s very bad. How bad is it, Lance?” Pidge asked, finally having gained control of her nosebleed. 

“Very, very bad. Our exit's been cut off and we have no way of finding it back!" Lance looked fatalistic, head hanging low and eyes dark. 

"It's not you to give up that easily thought." Keith pointed, only slightly accusing. But Lance was one of the most stubborn people he knew so having him saying something like that was a hard hit on Keith. If even their most optimistic friend was giving up then the situation was not going to be to their side. 

The French horn sounded again, weaker than the first time but sounding closer, making his vision swim yet he didn't black out like the first time. Lance cried out in pain, clutching at his ears and it looked like Pidge's nosebleed [started] again, stronger than ever. 

"I know!" Lance cried out, rubbing at his ears, fingers definitely more red than before. "But we're hers without an invitation and it looks like a Wild Hunt is in session. I hoped we could have gone out without getting spotted but we're out of luck on that front."

"What does it mean?!" Hunk asked, his panic going up a notch. 

"It means we're the Prey." Lance announced, looking somber. Keith wanted to say something, berate against Lance's defeatism but he was cut short by the heavy sound of hooves slamming against the ground, of horns being sounded deep in the forest but worst of all was the howling that accompanied everything, the sharp, menacing barking of hungry dogs. 

His brain short circuited and all plans, all thoughts left his mind. A very primal part of himself took control of his body and he, along with his friends, did what all Prey could do. 

They ran.


	2. Thus below.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pursued by blood thirsty hounds, Keith is quickly overpowered; saved at the last second, he hopes for his friend's survival.  
> Somewhere, in the trees, something watches over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lance's (and also Pidge's) suspicious knowledge has been questioned last chapter, and with good reasons. Chapter 2 will now gives you the answers you desires, but be careful what you wish for.

Keith didn't know how long he had been running, trying to escape those strange dogs but it felt like a while. And during all this time, the dogs never tried ripping him apart, just nipping at his ankles whenever he would slow down. It eerily felt like they were playing a game of mouse and cat, leading him… somewhere and tiring him out. 

He didn't know where the others went, having been separated near the end of that "Wild Hunt" as Lance had put it. He had been with Hunk for a bit then the dog had came, forcing them to split. Forcing them to run for their lives. 

Sweat was running down his back, his legs were hurting so bad he didn't want to take another step ever again and his lungs were dying on him, unable to really give him enough of the oxygen he needed in that instant. 

He realized after a short time the four dogs had diminished in numbers, leaving him alone with only one of their own. It looked bigger and nastier than the others so it didn't feel like a consolation. But while he was twisting back to look at it, preparing himself to try and at least stab it, his feet caught on a root (he swore it wasn't here before, like it decided to trip him on purpose) and he fell on his side. Hard. 

His breath was definitely forced out of him by the harsh impact, and Keith could only try to crawl backwards to escape the dog, whose maw was now opened on several rows of jagged teeth, too many to belong to a normal-ish dog. This and the eyes that looked far too much like gemstones made it pretty clear to Keith _it wasn't_ a normal dog and his survival rate was decreasing as rapidly as it was approaching him. 

Gulping, he tried to slash its muzzle with his knife when it got too close but he knew he wouldn't go far with such short ranged weapon. The "dog" was definitely half his size. If it decided a little slash on the side of the cheek was what he had to endure to get a tasty meal out of Keith, then he'll be fucked. Utterly and truly fucked. 

He was still wondering his next action when the ground trembled a little as something big and clearly angry was coming their ways, the sound of hooves on the hard ground resonating in his ears. 

And then the dog turned his back to him to face his sudden opponent: it was the most beautiful horse he had ever seen, with its chestnut coat, its slightly darker mane and tail and hooves that were definitely covered in blood and raised to pound into the dog. For Keith's experienced eye (thanks to Pidge who always had horses related tidbits and pop quizzes to share, much to Lance's embarrassment), it looked like a Finnish Draught. 

The horse neighed, lifting itself on its hind legs to try and scare the dog with its forelegs, droplets of blood flying as it menacingly shook its hooves centimeters away from the dog's nose. The dog didn't back down, just growled more and tried to catch one leg with its jaw but missed, the horse somehow faster. 

Keith had to cover his eyes the next moment as the dog, showing no backing down and frothing at the mouth, tried to attack the horse once more, leading to it mercilessly trampling the dog, sounds of bones cracking and snapping echoing through the forest. The dog didn't even had a chance to flee before being reduced to a pulp, dark blood oozing from what was left of his body. 

The horse, for itself - himself? It looked like a male - was breathing hard, the weird flame in his strangely glowing blue eyes dimming as he turned his gaze towards Keith. Blood splatter everywhere on his robe apart, it was still the most elegant creature he had seen in his life, with its artfully cut mane and a fur that shone softly in the low light, looking like the softest he would ever touch in his life. There was also a golden halter around his neck, indicating he must belong to someone that cared a lot about him. 

"Hey, boy." He said with a shaky voice, earning himself the full attention of the horse. "Did you take care of the other dogs too?"

He didn't quite expect an answer from him but the fact he pridefully shook his mane was enough for Keith to feel relieved. He nearly collapsed on the floor again, knees weak from relief. That was one less thing to worry about. Now, all he needed was to find his friends and get the hell out of wherever this place was. And maybe… maybe he would be faster on the horse? He looked tame enough and even if Keith didn't quite know how to mount, it shouldn't be _that_ hard.

Right?

"Don't be scared." He said to the horse while making kissy noises. "I just need your help to find my friends. They're probably in danger too."

The horse shook his head again, making the reins laying on the back of his neck click, apparently not minding one bit Keith as he was slowly moving towards his side. There wasn't anything to help him climb up, no big rocks or roots high up off the ground, just soft moss and leaves on the short grass. 

He must have taken a bit too long in his search because the horse snorted at him and head-butted him towards his flank, making Keith yelp. He was so glad none of his friends were around him because it was such an embarrassing noise. 

"Geeze, calm down. You're twice as tall as me, sorry if I can't jump on your back cowboy style. I'm not Shiro, or Lance." The horse neighed at him, mocking. But he seemed to understand Keith enough because he suddenly dropped on his knees, the perfect height for Keith to swing his leg and sit on his back. 

But before he could do anything, the sharp clack of a whip sounded near him, spooking the horse who scrambled to stand up, muscles taunt from being spooked off so suddenly. 

"Get away from him, Beast!" A feminine voice sounded behind Keith's, followed by more whip sounds, making the horse furiously lash out with his forelegs. It's mouth was filled with teeth far pointier than what he expected from a horse. 

Keith took several steps back, away from the horse and away from the odd woman with silver hair that suddenly appeared, the whip in her hand glowing a strange blue light. 

"Careful, my boy." A man's voice, behind Keith followed shortly by gentle hands guiding him further away from the scene. "We don't want you getting hurt, now." 

"What the heck…" Was all he could say as he saw the horse give up on trying to reach him, eyes flaming blue. The horse - or whatever thing that disguised itself as a horse, turned back, throwing a last glance in his direction before running away, tail lashing out in defiance. The sound of its hooves, strangely melodic on the moss covered ground, resonated around them for a short moment before disappearing in the distance. 

"Are you alright?" The woman asked, brushing away stray strand of hairs that got out of her bun, hands twirling a strange bracelet before she calmly put it back on her wrist. 

"I… I guess?" Keith was still reeling from the stress he was put in, everything swirling around him. It was too much, all at once and even though he prided himself on being the most level headed of the bunch, it started to take a toll on his ability to stay sane and alert. Having a breakdown would not help the situation. But his mind was starting to blank and he felt heavy, each moves costing him.

“Thank Oriande we were close.” The woman said to him, a glare still on her face as she was rolling her whip around her fist. “Else that beast would have hurt you. Or worse.”

“But it saved me from those dogs.” Keith said, not understanding why it would save him just to kill him afterwards. 

“It was probably to gain your trust.” The man said, playing with his mustache. “The Kelpies are a tricky bunch and their cunning only rivals the worst Unseelies.”

A what? The whats? What they were saying didn't seem that coherent to him and his frazzled brain. Keith was trying to understand what had just happened, looking at the both of them for answers.

"Did you take drugs?" He asked them. There was no way this was all real. Maybe they got turned around and stumbled into a late night horse hunt and the dogs might have mistaken them for a deer or something. Right?

"I assure you not." The mustached man said. "I understand you are confused by your situation but denial will only lead you to getting yourself killed. Kelpie aside, the Hounds are the least dangerous creatures here "

Keith blanched at the serious tone of the man. He knew he had been in danger after being chased by blood thirsty dogs but for someone to tell him that without any hesitation was a blow to his morals. He had barely survived! And it was just to the bottom monsters of the food chain?

"It is strange though." The woman wondered out loud. "I never thought the Witch would associate herself with a Kelpie. They are an unpredictable bunch, difficult to command."

"That's great and all but I don't have time to chat." Keith said. "I need to find my friends before they get transformed into something's dinner." 

"How many of you are there?" The man asked.

"Five. We got separated because of the Hunt." 

The man and woman exchanged a worried look before they seemed to reach an understanding.

"We will help you find your friends." The woman assured. “Do you have anything that belongs to them? It would be easier to find them by their quintessence.”

Quintessence? What even was that? He hadn’t an inkling of an answer but the woman was looking at him expectantly with a hand outstretched. Did he have something that belonged to his friends? Frantically, he began searching his pockets for something, anything but there was only his keys, his phone, a snack bar and his knife. Nothing substantial, nothing that was material. But maybe it didn’t _have_ to be material? 

“Could a phone number work? Technically, it belongs to only one person and nobody has the same.”

“A… föne number? What is this? I have never heard of it before.”

“It’s a device that allows you to communicate with people all over the world, usually small enough to fit in your pocket. Here." He took out his battered phone off his pants, looking disgruntled at the sight of it. Apparently it hadn't really appreciated his encounter with the ground earlier but it was still working. 

"What a strange little thing." The man whistled, looking at Keith who was opening the contact app. "Such a small contraption is able to do that?"

"Yeah. You can even write messages and with technology being more and more advanced, you can even get apps that do diverse things to. One of my friends is more into it than me so if you want in depth explanations, you’ll have to wait until we find her.”

“Of course.” The woman said. “By the way, we never introduced ourselves. My name is Allura of Altea and this is Coran, my Advisor.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Keith.” He said, a bit miffed by the presentations. He knew basic courtesy was something that was important, more so to someone who saved your life prior but he really wanted to find back his friends as fast as possible. 

Thankfully, Allura seemed to understand his concerns as she took the phone from him and started chanting something under her breath, her white hair steadily becoming brighter and brighter until they were illuminating the area around them, softly and little wisps bean to apparate beside her, dancing softly in a wind he couldn’t feel. The wisps were twirling around for a short moment before they began to focus on specific directions, one becoming a soft yellow and two shining blue and green. A lone, smaller indigo one was hesitant still, floating around her, seemingly unsure while the other three were brighter and bigger and unmoving on their current directions. 

“Most of your companions are close by.” Allura said, a soft sheet of sweat on her forehead. “The closer one is the one with a strong Earth core, at more or less four hundred meters away. The ones with Nature and Water core are together but at more than a kilometer away, yet moving toward our general direction. Your last friend, with a rare Wind core is currently being shielded from my view.”

She sighed, looking extremely apologetic while Keith did his best not to blow a fuse at her. It wasn’t her fault if she couldn’t find his friend, whoever it was. She already found three of them and even if they weren’t yet all together, it was still something. And it wasn’t like he was going to abandon them so soon. His friends were like his family and whoever hurt any of them would have to deal with him. 

“Isn’t there any ways you can, I don’t know, augment the strength of your magic on just them so you can at least pinpoint the general area?” He asked her while looking at the three bright wisps. 

“Not without having a lot of unwanted attention brought our way.” She sighed, looking apologetic. “This Court is one of the worst I’ve ever step foot in and the one ruling it is far too powerful to underestimate.”

“The size of one’s Court depends on the depth of one’s magical abilities.” Coran explained as they began to follow the Yellow wisp. “We’ve been inside of this one for several days now, avoiding most of its inhabitants while trying to find the exit and we have yet to reach its boundaries.”

It was kind of humbling to Keith somehow. He hadn’t quite imagined to have fallen in some sort of subspace like that. Perhaps a lower level of the forest, a depression created by a sudden earthquake of however that sort of stuff formed but it was much worse. 

“I didn’t quite plan on learning magic and stuff like that was _actually_ real.” He said with a somber tone. This earned himself a strange look from both of his new companions. 

“Why do you mean?” Coran asked. “Magic is quite common and Folk members are widespread in the world. Everyone knows how to deal with one in the rare likelihood to meet one.”

“Yeah no. Magic and mythical creatures like that are mostly folklore and old people’s story, fairy tales or just for cautions. There are a lot of books and documentaries on proving mermaids or werewolves can’t exist or people mistook an animal for one of them. Like a seal or a real big wolf. And people claiming to have magic are seen as either jokes or they use party tricks to amuse people.”

The mix of horrified and disgusted on their face would have been kind of funny in another circumstance but right now, it made him uneasy. 

"How can people lose that knowledge so quickly?" Coran asked, his mustache frizzling a bit. 

"I don't know about quickly but it's just how it is."

It seemed to shower their enthusiasm a little as they shared a worried look and Keith would have felt bad if it weren't for the yellow wisp suddenly exploding in a glitter shower. The two other wisps with definite directions didn't seem moved by the disappearance of their brethren but the indigo one seemed a bit more hesitant in its twirling. 

"This is the place." Allura announced, having seemingly steeled herself from the shock. "But I do not see anyone." 

“Is it?” Keith asked, looking around quite disappointed. There were only trees and trees but nothing more. So good for magic. He probably sounded a bit sarcastic as well but he estimated he was allowed to. 

"My wisp lead us there, didn't it? I have never failed this spell before." Allura said, clearly defensive. She also looked a bit worried but not enough to feel peculiarly bad. 

"There's a first for everything." Keith wanted to retort before a leaf land on his head and a quite panicked voice sounded. 

"Uuh, guys?" 

More leaves and some barks fell around them as Keith felt some sort of relief. That voice….it was Hunk! 

"Hunk? Where are you?!" His head [whirled] around to try and spot his friends, even going as far as to try and look at the branches closer to the ground without much results.

"Up here!" 

Keith craned his neck further back, scanning the higher branches and there Hunk was, clinging to a thick trunk, a good twenty meters from the ground.

"What the hell, Hunk!" Keith can't help himself but say, incredulity bright on his face. "How did you manage to get that high up?"

"Yeah, huh I don't have any ideas." He answered back, "but I would really like to come down, now."

Keith shook his head in disbelief, trying to find some way to help his friend. He couldn’t quite find anything though as the branches were either too thin to support his weight or too far apart to reach securely. There wouldn’t be a way to get him safe on the ground. 

“I have a spell that can be useful on that case.” Allura said with a low voice. “It will be very draining and I wouldn’t be able to do anything else for a while.”

"Then do it." Keith sharply said, not nearly as torn between managing Allura's strength and making sure Hunk was safe and sound near him. It probably sounded very bad but Keith knew Hunk for far longer than Allura and Coran and was more involved in him not being twenty meters up in a tree somewhere that had been deemed dangerous. 

Allura walked to the tree trunk, taking deep inspirations before she began to glow again, her voice sounding both far away and echoing as she placed her hands on the trunk. As soon as she touched it, the glow went in the tree, illuminating its veins and making it shine a soft blue light, from the bottom to the top. And as the glow progressed upward, the tree looked healthier and began to sprout leaves and flowers, a huge contrast to the sick looking trees all around them.

The tree shuddered once, twice and shedding dead leaves all around them before its trunk went pliant, supple and began to bend towards the ground, unbothered by its previous rigidness. Hunk yelped at first, settling down when he realized the branch he was sitting on was bending as well, keeping him from slipping to the ground in an unceremonious heap. 

But when Keith began to feel relieved about Hunk's safety, that's when the situation went sour again. 

The tree began to shudder once, twice. A third time more violently as its glow was becoming dim and the flowers began to rot quickly. The thundering crack that resonated sounded terrifying as the trunk began to split where it was bending, as if nature was quickly taking back the reins. Allura swore under her breath, sweat glistening on her forehead and her hands glowed less brightly. The luminous veins on the tree trunk began to dim and became hedged with purple, a sick color that made Keith sick just looking at it. 

“I… I can’t hold on much longer.” Allura swore, exhaustion seeping through her body language. “Hunk, was it? At my signal, you’ll have to jump!”

“What?!” Hunk exclaimed, looking more panicked than ever, clinging tightly to the branch that was beginning to split from the trunk. “I can’t do that!”

“You can!” Keith stressed, “It’s barely a five meter drop!”

“Barely a…! Do you know how many people died from falling that high?”

“It’s either you jump by yourself of get your ass thrown on the ground when the whole tree goes down!” He urged his friend, his muscles hurting from being clenched from fearing for his friend’s safety. 

“Don’t worry my boy,” Coran exclaimed, arms extended, “I’ll catch you. Just jump and trust in me.”

"No offense but you look like a twig and I don't want to hurt you."

Keith was seriously going to have a heart attack if Hunk didn’t decide immediately. The tree was looking worse and worse despite Allura’s attempts to keep it together as it was falling apart, bark flaking and crumbling off the tree trunk. The loud cracking of the branch Hunk was still clinging to finally decided him to let go, shrieking, right into Coran’s awaiting arms. 

Keith jumped to get Allura out of the way of the falling tree, only struggling a little bit under her weight as she was sagging in his hold. She looked put off, her hair falling off her bun in strands to create a river of white on her back. Her hands, clinging to his shirt, were cold and she looked like passing out at any moment. Getting herself in such a state to save someone she didn't even know; for Keith, that was admirable. 

"Is everyone alright?" Coran asked, having set down Hunk and peering through the dust cloud that had been the tree falling apart. 

"I am." Hunk declared after patting himself down. 

"Allura isn't." Keith said before setting her down, her back against another tree trunk. She was very pale and her eyes were closed, evident signs of her exhaustion. 

"I'll be fine." She said with a weak voice, waving her hand in dismissal. "I just need to take a breather."

Coran nodded, kneeling near her to provide her with a pouch that was apparently filled with water as she began drinking from it. Keith felt a hand on his forearm, making him turn to see Hunk with a hard stoned face. 

"Who are those guys?" He asked Keith, voice low enough not to be heard from the other two. 

"They're Coran and Allura." Keith presented them to his friend, understanding of the apparent distrust. "They saved me from a Kelpie and accepted to help me find you and the others. How did you even get that high up in the tree anyway?"

Hunk nodded, looking pleased with the answer but still his expression went from slightly relaxed to unsure at Keith’s question. 

"I don’t really know. I was chased by one of those very angry dog and I saw a low hanging branch? So I thought that would be a good way to protect myself, and maybe the dog couldn’t jump that high. But when I got seated on the branch suddenly there was a violent wind and when I looked around again, I was all the way up there. Also, a kelpie, that's a horse, right?"

Keith frowned, not really understanding the question.

"Well, yes?"

"And those colored blobs, they're basically trackers? I saw one explode when you got there so I guess this was mine."

"You're catching up fast." Keith said, impressed. But Hunk was one of the smartest one of their group, tying closely with Pidge but neither of them coming on top from their different fields. 

"Yeah, heh. Thanks." Hunk said, blushing slightly. "But. We might have a problem then."

Keith frowned at that, not quite understanding where Hunk was getting to. His serious tone was another layer of anxiety in this pretty awful place. 

“What? Why?”

“Because I definitely saw a horse run in the same direction those blobs are floating in.”

Keith whipped his head towards Hunk so fast he nearly got himself whiplash hearing that, his heart constricting painfully in his chest. Even with the knowledge the place was intrinsically dangerous, it didn’t stop the fear from bursting through to hear of another menace his friends were going to be exposed to. 

“We need to go, right now.” He said, frantic. Coran shook his head at him.

“Allura is in no shape to-”

“I’ll be fine.” She cuts him off, standing up with difficulties. “But if we wait for too long, his friends won’t be.”

Keith knew Coran was conflicted, seeing at his face and the sharpness in his eyes but he relented as Allura was starting to walk in the direction the two wisps were pointing too, the purple one preferring to waltz around Allura. 

Their pace was uneven and stressful but Keith bite his tongue, keeping himself from saying something he would regret; He had only known Allura for less than half an hour and already she used a lot of herself to save him and Hunk, exhausting her in such a dangerous environment; If he [en plus] demanded for them to pick up the pace, he would be nothing more but an asshole. 

The reassuring weight of Hunk’s hand on his shoulder was barely enough to stop him from running towards the rest of his friends. The tense atmosphere between the four of them was getting to him, especially when Coran was still wearing that disappointed face. Keith needed a lot to feel guilty about something but the older man was succeeding pretty well about making Keith feel bad about the situation. 

“They’re going to be fine.” Hunk told him with a soft voice. 

“I truly hope so. God, this is so fucked up. Why is this happening to us?”

“I don’t know bud.” Hunk sighed and reported his gaze in front of him. The two wisps were still there, still showing the way and glowing brighter as they approached their goal. 

There was a strange smell in the air as Keith could see the recognizable glint of light reflected on a water surface. Whatever it was, be it a lake or just a small pool of water, Keith didn’t care. He didn’t feel it because of the rush of adrenaline from earlier but he was parched and having water would be great. 

The trees got more and more spaced away from one another as they approached and Keith could see two silhouettes against the reflected light. One small but large and a big one. He squinted his eyes against the [éclat] and his blood ran cold as the green and blue wisps exploded in glitters. 

The small silhouette was definitely Pidge, still wearing Hunk’s jacket and fiddling with something in her hands while the other one was very familiar in its size and shape. 

“The Kelpie.” Allura growled as she reached for her waist to take off a strange metallic shape and shaking it, making it glow a soft blue. 

The Kelpie was with Pidge, which logically meant that she was in danger. Yet, there was something extremely strange as the horse like beast didn’t make any move to take Pidge in the lake and eat her. It was just standing next to her like a well behaved horse. 

The crackle coming from Allura made Keith jump in his skin, making him look back at the woman and what was now definitely a whip in her hands. The horse moved slightly to look at them as Pidge only turned her head. She didn’t seem like she particularly cared about having an amazonian fury coming straight their way to murder something horse like. 

The horse seemed very nervous about the new situation and placed himself behind Pidge, walking backwards until its hooves were inside the water and getting further in. Keith could see Pidge roll her eyes and stash whatever she had in hand inside one of the many pockets of Hunk’s coat. 

“You really took your sweet time.” She said, starting to walk towards them. The horse whined as she got further from him, but made no move to close the distance, just got deeper in the water until his neck was the only thing out. 

“Pidge!” Hunk exclaimed, going to hug her before being stopped by Coran who was frowning as Allura’s scowl deepened. 

“Don’t move, Hunk. I don’t know who this is but she isn’t human either.” Allura said, venom dripping from her voice. Pidge’s eyes got a dangerous glint in them as she stopped walking towards them, shrugging the coat off before raising her hands in the air. 

“Well duh.” Was all Pidge said after a small moment of silence. “But the better term to use is ‘ _wasn’t alive anymore_ ’. I pride myself on who I am, thank you very much.”

The horse made a soft noise at her and Keith saw her roll her eyes. 

“Are you really Pidge or something that took her form?” Hunk asked as Keith took the opportunity to take a quick glance around in search of who the second wisps was pointing to. If that really was Pidge, then either Lance or Shiro where here, somewhere. Hopefully not dead. 

“I’m Katherine Holt, hacker extraordinary and I’ve been dead for more than 124 years.” She simply said. “And Lance ate my fruits earlier today. Pineapple slices.” 

Hunk exchanged a glance with Keith and he nodded because who else would have known that Pidge had a fruit snack during their car trip and that Lance had left nothing of it. Except maybe a monster that took her memories and all, but that would be far too creepy. 

“Speaking of Lance.” She said before turning back to where the horse was but the water surface was now devoid of anything but air bubbles and shiny ripples before a mop of brown hair surfaced again and Lance’s head was scowling at them. “You gonna stay in the water all day or move your ass?”

“And get myself hacked by that crazy whip? You think I’m suicidal?! Heck no!”

“Lance?” Hunk’s voice was incredulous after seeing his best friend where the Kelpie just was. Keith’s head was also starting to hurt a bit. Pidge was dead for a while and now Lance wasn’t human either? “You’re a horse?!” 

"If you weren't my best friend I would have curb stomped you." Lance exclaimed, very dramatically. "That's a very insensitive thing to say! I'm a Kelpie. How would you like to be called a monkey, huh?"

Keith saw more than he heard Pidge groan and even he was struggling not to roll his eyes. 

“Quit being dramatic and get out of the water.” Pidge asked, taking the jacket she threw on the floor into her arms, folding it slightly so it wouldn’t hinder her. 

“No way! Not until that crazy lady hadn’t put that whip back!” Lance shot from where he was still standing in the water, even if he did take a few steps forwards so his torso was out. 

“If she promises not to hurt you, will you come here?” Keith asked, a bit pissed off by Lance’s attitude. But he then remembered Allura had threatened him while he had been in his horse form so trust wasn’t quite there yet. 

“Yes.” Was the definitive answer and Keith turned to look at Allura, who was still clutching her whip in a tight grip. He didn’t quite know what to say to her to make her not throttle Lance but she was looking conflicted with herself. 

“I will not harm you.” She said after visibly struggling for a moment. The glow was slowly fading away, as did the whip. “But I will not trust you either.” 

Lance seemed to consider that for a hot minute before he shrugged and got out of the water, approaching them as Pidge made the rest of the way alongside him. Hunk closed the distance and hugged them tight, making Lance groan even if Pidge didn’t shift in anyway. He wasn't wet at all.

“Oh god I thought you were dead. I mean, dead _dead_ , gone for and all that! Those dogs were so scary and nearly eat me so I’m glad you’re both fine.” Hunk’s voice was wavering as he started tearing up before making a startled sound as Pidge phased through his arms to stand beside him, leaving Lance to suffer the tight hug all by himself. 

“It was fairly traumatising, I agree.” Pidge said with a tired voice. “Since Lance and I thought it was a common Wild Hunt - well, more Lance than I since he knows more than me on that, we assumed there would be regular Hellhounds. But they turned out to be Dormarths and those can even injure me, so that was a wild ride.”

“Don’t put it all on me.” Lance whined, finally getting off of Hunk’s hug. “A dog is a dog to me, I don’t really know how to set every big, dark and fae breed apart.”

“Can you stop bickering so we find a way to get out of here in one piece, please?” Keith asked, pinching his nose. “We were lucky to find you but Allura had difficulties pinpointing Shiro’s location.”

He pointed at the tiny purple wisp that was still twirling around Allura but hide itself in her hair when Pidge went too close for comfort. It was kinda strange to see how sentient that thing was, especially when his three other ‘siblings’ had exploded in glitters just a short while ago. Keith didn’t want to imagine that little ball of light having feelings because he knew he would feel terrible for when he’ll explode next. 

“Amazing, how did you do that?” Pidge wondered, trying to make the wisp get out of Allura’s hair but failing since Allura didn’t seem to appreciate Pidge infringing her personal space. 

“Your friend Keith has lent me his föne so I could feel your unique quintessence and create matching affiliates with the only goal to point a direction. Its primary spell.”

“No way. So you took something as innocuous as a phone number and imprinted your little things on it? Like compasses but more, cute.” 

“Staying on that subject,” Lance interrupted what could have been the worst case of nerd from Pidge. “why isn’t that thing pointing for Shiro?”

Allura made a sour face at his comment but luckily made a point to ignore the jab.

"The being controlling this Court is more powerful than I am and more experienced. I could try to augment the precision and power of my spells but I'm clearly at a disadvantage."

"Well, you said you used Keith's phone to find us, so does that mean you combined the quintessence with the intrinsically unique etheric signature our phone numbers get?" Pidge asked, fingers playing with the branches of her glasses.

"That's the rough of it. I believe the "etheric signature" is how you call the waves? If so, that's exactly what I did." Allura confirmed, beaconing the wisp to float above her open palm. 

"Oh, I get it." Hunk exclaimed, pushing Lance to get in front of Allura and observe the wisp. "If the signal coming from one phone is not enough to pinpoint Shiro's location, then our four phone together might do the trick!"

"Exactly!" Pidge said, puffing out her chest. "Four phones will give more power to that signal and it will be harder to temper it."

Keith was still slightly lost but he understood the gist of it. Since Hunk had taken a more down to earth vocabulary, it was easier to follow. 

"So we just cross the beams?" Lance asked, hands already searching in his pockets for his phone.

"Love that reference, Lance." Pidge thumb upped him. "And whoever control that Court probably doesn't expect us to use technology."

"Thank you, Antonio Meucci." Hunk singsonged, taking out his own phone to go to Shiro's contact page. He swiped Lance and Keith's phone before they could react, making a three person huddle with Pidge and Allura, leaving also Coran on the side. 

Since he couldn't hear or see anything, Keith turned to Lance, a bit nervous.

"So… ever ate someone?"

Lance raised an eyebrow, a bit caught off guard by the sudden question. 

"You gonna judge me if I say yes?"

"Frankly? I don't know." Keith answered truthfully. "I'm still a bit reeling from all that’s happening and my brain is still processing everything. You and Pidge not being human is just another weird stuff I’ll be going to agonize on later.”

“It’s true you have a really great ability to adapt to new informations and freak out about them later because you just understood them.” Lance hummed, fidgeting where he was standing. “And to answer your question, yes. I ate humans.

“Not anymore?” Keith asked, a bit queasy about knowing one of his best friend was a cannibal _and wanted to date his brother figure_. 

“Depends what you mean by ‘eating’.” Lance wiggled his eyebrows, earning himself a disgusted look from Keith as well as an elbow to the side. 

“God you’re disgusting.” Keith grumbled, earning himself a soft laugh from his friend. “Why do I even try to talk with you.”

“I’m sorry, Keith.” Lance said, still laughing. “It’s just too easy. But to answer your question: yes. I ate people. Perhaps not as much as other Faes but I’m guilty of that, so to speak. It was kind of different back then.”

Lance gave him a meek look, probably trying to gauge his reaction. If Keith was frank with himself, knowing his friend had consumed people in his past would be something he’d have to think about on a later date but it was on the same line as Lance being a horse sometime; it was just who he was and there was no changing him. 

“If that reassure you, I haven’t eaten anyone in a hundred year.” 

“Weird flex but ok.” He can’t help but tease Lance, fighting back a laugh at his dumbstruck face and the way he fights to find his words. 

“Keith?! Did.. what? Am I having a stroke? I’m.. Keith?!”

“Hey, Lance come here for a moment.” Pidge called, saving Keith from dealing with a shocked Lance. He felt really pleased with himself and glad he knew how to time himself to surprise his friends with something unexpected. 

Lance threw a last glance at Keith, still taken aback from that effective meme use and walked towards the trio as Keith did the same with Coran. Allura was holding some sort of egg shaped object in her hand and she had her eyes closed, which was not hiding the fact they were glowing behind her eyelids.

“What’d you need me for?” Lance asked, looking rather curious now but not tempted to touch the egg thing, fully knowing what Pidge could be like when someone messed with her stuff. Keith had memories of painful revenge after he had messed something she had been working on for a few days prior. He never did it again. 

“Well, we need another type of bond from the etheric one we managed to tie together. And since ‘pure’ emotions are rather effective with quintessence, what better than your crush on Shiro to do the trick?”

“What? No, I- I don’t have a crush on Shiro! Who told you! Hunk!! You blabbermouth!”

“I didn’t need to say anything, buddy.” Hunk simply said, looking at Lance with the exasperated expression of someone far too accustomed to his best friend denying his own feelings. “You’re so obvious it’s kind of surprising Shiro didn’t get clued in until now.”

“It’s because he’s an oblivious dumbass who is also pining.” Keith sighed, earning himself a squeak from Lance. His default emotion was going to be set to stunned if he wasn’t careful. 

“Alright, ok. Big fucking news I guess but that’s going to have to wait until we aren’t in danger of being massacred.” Lance grumbled, holding out his hand above the egg with some restrained hesitation. He looked uncomfortable but Keith thought it was understandable. 

There was a soft blue glow as Lance touched the egg, who started to get brighter in response and with a soft crackling noise, it broke, freeing what was inside. He can’t really see from his position, with Lance and Pidge blocking the view so he approached more and tiptoed to have a better look at it while Hunk was cooing at it. 

Cradled in Allura’s hands was a violet mice, twice the size of a normal one with black beady eyes and a cute pink nose, looking at them with curiosity. It was far too adorable, even for Keith who had to restrain himself from melting in front of it. Only Lance was a bit uneasy looking, frowning. 

“Why did a mice got out of an egg…?” He asked, receiving a dull look from Allura who didn’t deign to answer his question. It was magic, after all and even Keith was a bit confused. But it wouldn’t do to question everything that happened here. 

“It doesn’t matter.” Pidge sighed, looking up at him. “The most important is that it will lead us to Shiro, that’s all. The form is not important.”

With a squeak, the mice jumped from Allura’s shoulder and onto the ground, its fur glowing slightly against the mossy ground and started to run on all four, back from where they went. Allura immediately followed it with Coran and Keith looked at his friends who shrugged and started to follow as well. The mice had set a fast pace but it wasn’t too straining on them. Hunk threw a glance at Lance and Pidge began walking faster to let them a bit of space to talk. Hunk didn’t really like having things hidden from him after all. 

“So…” Hunk started, looking at Lance like a hawk. “Ever ate someone?”

Keith heard lance squawk as he tried to stifle a laugh while Pidge didn’t have the same reserve, earning themselves a curious glance from Coran. 

“Why does everyone _always_ starts with that question?!”

Yeah hearing Lance so confused and offended didn’t help his case and Keith laughed out loud this time, avoiding the branches thrown his way by a very much embarrassed Lance. 

And if Keith had to take a look around him, he would have seen the trees bend away from his laughing group ever so slightly, as if confused from their bright mood in such a place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure while writing it, this was the chapter I strangely had the least troubles with but took the longest to write. I don't even know how this was possible ¯\\_( :/ )_/¯
> 
> Next chapter: finally more answers, but beware of the cost.


	3. Feeling lost. Irrationality.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With only one friend to find, their pace becomes frantic; what waits for them at the end of the path will only test the limits of their spirit.  
> Darkness is n ot kind to the purer souls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I believe last chapter did a lesser impact than the first. That's a bit of a shame but... Alas, that's life. Well, I still did appreciate the kudos ^^
> 
> I would have just prefered people commented, asked me questions about what is going on in the fic, about the lore I thought off while writing or just told me what they thought of the fic itself. But heh.

He doesn’t know how long they had walked for. The landscape around them was always the same, with no big changes whatsoever making the whole ‘Saving Shiro’ trip that much excruciating. It was already nerve wracking not to be able to reunite with his older brother figure as quickly as he yearned but the fact they seemed to be stuck in the same portion of forest was fraying his patience to thin bits. They all looked tired, they all had the same expression on their face and Allura was even leaning against Coran. 

She looked horrible, with her face pale and skin clammy, hair disheveled and eyes dull. Saving Hunk from the tree had already been hard on her, especially after it tried to kill his friend but having to summon her wisps and mice to find his friends was taking a bigger toll on her than she apparently let know. It was as if each spells had sucked her life force out of her, leaving a hollowed husk in its stead. With how concerned Coran was looking at her, his assumptions on how magic worked was sounding more and more plausible. 

“I don’t feel like we’ve been moving at all.” Hunk huffed, sweeping sweat from his forehead. He had tied his jacket around his waist after taking it back from Pidge and opened his button up shirt slightly. Even Pidge was looking murderous with her hair tied high on the back of her skull. Only Lance seemed fine, strangely refreshed and hadn’t been complaining once. 

“Yeah, there’s definitely something fishy going on.” Pidge let out a heavy breath, wiping sweat from her forehead. Now that he thought about it, a ghost being able to sweat, eat and with normal-ish bodily functions… how was that a thing? Magic. It definitely was magic, he decided to go with, not willing to think upon that further. It was far too complicated and stressful for the moment and he’ll need several months of break _and_ a trip to the psy to dip his toe back in that rabbit hole.

“Well it must be the leader of this Court’s doing because I didn’t even say anything to these fine ladies.” Lance huffed, looking vexed he was a possible reason. 

“What ladies…?” Keith asked, growing more uneasy by the seconds. Coran and Allura stopped to look at them, a look similar to his on their face. 

“These sneaky ones.” is Lance’s only comment as he pointed to a direction on the side. Keith swiveled his head to look but he could only catch a glance at _something_ moving away from his field of vision. The light, venomous giggling that reached his ears afterwards wasn’t to reassure him either.

“Dryads.” Allura said, frowning. She looked more pissed off than when she saw Lance for the first time, which was something Keith was surprised by. Annoyance and fury clear for everyone to see. “They are flimsy, unreliable beings to begin with, scatterbrained and wrecking havoc around them if they believe their trees has gotten an unfair treatment or placement. But with so much corruption in the air, no wonder I wasn’t able to feel them properly. They are way too perverted by the very nature of this place to feel like a unique being.”

“Are one of those responsible for what happened to me?” Hunk whined, hiding himself behind Lance, eyes glancing on every sides so he wouldn’t be caught by surprise. 

“No. It had clearly been an interference with more powers than mere Dryads.” Allura said, confidence in her voice. “The decay of the tree was a dead giveaway. No Dryads, corrupted or not, would hurt their tree, even to kill someone.”

“ _So we̳͖̅'̯͐r̝͛̓͢e̛͚̹̥͉̓̐͝ ̹̗̘̗̇͊̀̽͜͠n̩̭̐͠õ̗̳̣̼̤̮͊̉̃̕͜͡ţ͓̫̻͍̂̽͒̒̚ ̤̊ ͖̞̰̥͉͂̾̋̃͛p͚͌o͕͕͋̂̍͟w̨̦͉̲̘̭̤̞̽́͆̅̄̿̕͡e͕̖̳̋͐͂͘͟͡ͅr̢̨̒͞f̻̳̜͇͎̪̟̂̇͒͑͗͘͞ũ͙̜̠͖̦̬͍̻̲̙̯̣̐̄̈̎͑̌̎̐͛̆̕͢͞l͈͓̄͠ ̨̡̢̡̛̛͖͔̣͍̥̭̖̱̐͒͛̂̎̽͑̋̏̐͑̚͟ͅẽ̛̛̥̥̰̣̲̹̟̦͓̩̯̮̈̔̄̿̈́̐̓̅͂͜ň̨̫͉̩͍̲̺̳̣̳̀̎͑̿̍͐̑̽̉̕͜ǫ̧͎͚̱̪͍͉̣̫̟̔̒̇̾͂͊̚͟͞͞͠͡ứ̤̪͈̝͕̰̜̻͎̙̻͊͛͛̎̌̾̋̌̉g̢̨̺̝̯̯̠͓̲̮̤̤̤̗̍͑̀͊̇̅̂͒͑̉̕͞͠͝h̡̧̠̗͓͎̘̳̺̘̯̣̗͓̹͉̝̩͙́̾͑̓̂̀̊͛̏͛̄̐͋͒̔̀̕͝ ̥͔̫̘̔̏̊̿f̢̨͕̹̥̗̠̫̹͎̻̖̺̙͓͇̐̏͌̋͊͗͊̒͌̿́̽̀̄̽̂͜ǫ̨̩̩͕̰͕͚̤̞̋̾͗̽͛̎͆̉̕͡ŗ̡͖̞̜͈̠͓͙̫̣̈́̑͋̆̉͋̌̕̚ ̻͊y͓͍̤̒͗ǫ̟̩̹̠̮͙̝̓͑̈͛̏͝͞ư̬͔̪̥̝̜͉̩̱̩̦̮͉͑̓̑̓͊̅̉̿̉͛̈͘?̧̧̡̛̛͎̦͈̞̣̫̠͕͈͓͇͙͈̞̀̎̃̒͗̾͋̓̈́͗́̚̚͘͟͢͢͞͞͡_ ”

Chills ran up his spine as the trees creaked around them, the atmosphere surrounding them suddenly becoming darker as if the branches were pulling together to hide what minimal light they got from the sky. 

“What?!”

“ _We mȉͅg̝̍h̨̘͑̚t̛̪̫͆ ͇͓̿͊n͎͂̓͢o̜̒͂̐͜͟t̅ͅ ͎̇ḅ̰̱͐̎͗͘͟e͖̖͑̋̏͢ ̨̱̤̬́̃͛̀th̢̟͍̣̯̑͒͂͞͠ḛ̮̠̩̻̈̑̈̓̉͢ ̡͕̲̖̩̖̽͆̑̕̚͢͡͝m͈̹̀̇ǫ̮̭̗͋̂͝͡s̢̧͚̐̒̽t̛̲͚͇̭̐͛̐͜ ͉̲̥͙̦̺͈̜̔͐̂̂̈̏͘͘͜͠d͔̖͍͈̟͕͙͂̈̒͑̇̊͘a̺̩̙̤͙̞͇͓͊̊͑̏̿̑͋͝n̦̞͕̞͖̪̦̺̐̿̐̓͐͂̇͘͢͞ǵ̨̨̛̼̝̮͇̼̖̪̈̊̄̔̋̌̋̎͟e̯̙͓͍͖̟̰̤͋͑̍̈͑̋̀̔̚͜͠ͅr̠̙̣͂̓ō̘̻̗̳̩̪̮͉̘̰̖̆͂̀͗͑͒̽̅̂͝u̘̣̩̱̇̅̏͡ş̢̛͔̱͚͇̼̺͇͒̐͑̈́̉̆̌̚͝ͅ ͚͉̟̳͓̇̍͋͐̾͢͢͝͠o̡̳͇͇̬̱̻̰̖̥̾̐̔̿͒̽̾͆͛͞n̡̼̺͈̯͈͚̆͒͋̋̋̑͞ë͔s͔͇̙͎̦͇̺͇͎̩̓̏̌̎̉͛͆̕͠,͇͙̣͆͘͠ ̧̛̰̝̼͈̮͔̳̊̀͊̿͛͑͆͐̑̔͜͟͟͠ͅb̠̂͜͡ư̧̫͚̺̪̬̬̦̤̩̝͓̺̋̏̒͆͒́̌̐̌́̊͜͡͠ţ̧̰͉̼̠̣͓̖̳͍͊̉̌̐̅̌̓̆͆͞͠ͅ ̗͓̇̂t͔̻̤͎̳͑̑̃̓̓͌͢h̬̜̞̘̗̩͕̲̠̽͆̽̒̎̎̉̕͜͠ï̫̥̰̞͇̜̼̦̰̞̘͎̼͍̖̿̔͌̿̿͗̆̈̑̌̈̇̿̾͜͞͝ͅs̗̯͖̘̦̻̹̍̇̑̊͘̕͢͢͞͞ͅ ̡͔̮̙̮̪̝͔̓̅͗̍̂͌͞͝z̡͓̱̗̰̣̝̤͇̱̗͔̹̀͌͂̏̐͗̋̇͋̏̈͑̓͂͟͞ͅȯ̧͉̻͌̓ņ̦̳̟̰͉̙̯̱̯͖͕̋͗̂͂̽̒̿͌̽̈͌̀͌̆͜ͅë̢̛̼̝̲̣̘̹̞͋͆̔̏̿͡ į̡̛͎͈̅̾͘s̼̟͖̙̜̝̦͍̳̼̥̍͌̌̔͐͊̃͘̕͡͡ ̨̡̢̼͎̯͉̣͇̰̰̭̭͕̞̺̩̩͓͎͆͌̃̐̂͊̒̓̐͑̄̋͛̇̊̔͟͝͠͠͠o͔͓̥͓̒̓̌͟u̡̲͚̲͔͒̄̐̉͡r̨̡̟͔̅̾̊ ̛̱̳͉̊͂d̨͖̟̜̘̠̅̓̈̌̓o̢̢̨̨̯̘̯̝̤̮̰̺̜̬̠͖̱̙̻̺̓̊̂̒͌͋̏̔̓͌̉̽̊͗̋̿̅͘̚͢͟͠͞͝m͖̯͕̃̇̂ā̤i̢̛̝͔̝͉̫̥͙̰̲̗̝̰̙̣̟̳̙̳̾̒̊̿͒̌̏͒̒̉̓̋̅͋͂̀̑͞n̢̡̨̨̮̮̜͇̟̪͖͕̙̥̤͍̙̠̮̮̓̃͛̏̃̄̾̂̃̒͑̒̓̇͒̈̾̐̉͘̚͜͠ͅͅ.̨̱͉̞̻͂̅̆̔̊̌̇͂͘͟_ ”

“̵͐ͮͩ̈̚ _The W͟ḯ͟t̠͠c̼̪̪͛̈̾h ͍̖̕͠h̛̩͚̝̓̀a͍̲͌̕͘͟ḓ̩̻̞͛̀̆̕ ̭̼̍̕ä̮́l̹̗̓̄ļ̛͉͆o̻͈̫͖͕̪͋̐̄̉͞ẃ̧̠͙̹͓͚̥͇̀̾̔͊̋̄͡ę̛̻̲͈͍̗̺̿̓͗̔̎̉͢d̦̐ ̲̿u̼͍̜̻̬͙̱̎̐̽̿̐̔̎͘͜ͅs ̱̿ṱ͍̜̲̞̟̝̤͎͂̄̒̐̊̌̆́̔͘ͅǒ͉̰̣̭̦͔̮͆͑̈́̎̓̊͜͠͞ͅ ̨̝̟̼̟͕̫͙̑̈̅̃̀̑͑̉d̨̧̡͚͚̘̅͐͒̕͝ŏ̼̖͓͋̈́̉͟ ̳̪͙̠̠̙̮̘̘͑͑̐̌͂̂̂̒̇̒̈͜͢͢͠w̢̜͈͙͔̱̅͌̑̾̿͡h̪͖̫͚̝̯̪̤̠̬̍̇̓̌͆̄̾̌̿̚͘ͅả̢̛͉̞̺̟̽͛̄̏͜͜͠t̗͉͗͗ȩ͖̮͕͉̺̘͎̭̓̌̒̌̿͌͘̚v̫͇̓̄e̯̍́ͅr̢̞̤̥͚̰͎̲̪͆͊͑̿̽̏͐͘͝ ̨̨̰̖͚̜̜̼̺̫̯̥̺̭̱̟̹͆̑̐͌͑͂͒̌̀̊͂͗͑̽͂͘̕w̫̫̫͉͉̻͓͉̖̤̖̙͍̬̟͚͖̿̑̒̎̐̅̿͋̈́̂̎̆̅̚͝͡͞e̢̬̺̰͉̜̺̘̜͉̗̞̜̍̉̍̓͋͋̓͊͒̓͒͘͘͢͢͞͝ ̲͍̞̓̆͝w̨̨̭̣͙̰̰̲̠͈͈͗̾͑̒̈̈́͋͂̈́̃͠i̧̓s̙͍͉̯̼͕̫̤̮͚̮̠̬̘̺̜̦̅̓̋̉͗̀̑̽̃̅̇̓̍̅̊͘͘͞ͅh̻̞̎͛ ̠̭̩̩̮̹̤̹̜̙̎̒̿̃̃̃̈̒͋̾͘͜͟͢͠͡f̨̛̙͙͙̺͎̹̰͎̙͖̼̻̼͍͒̓̀͗͑̎̊͊̈́͐͋̿̑͜͝o͈͙̝̩̭̤̰̺̼̣̰͓̬̒̈́̌͑̑͐̈̄̃̀̀̕͜͟͢͠͝͠r̢͚̼͚̟̳̳͇̬̣̼̣̭͖̹̯̳̪͓̙̼̖̳͂̍͂̅̋͑̀̓̊̋̄̽̿̍̔͌̆̓̊̚͞͞,̥̰̔̈ ̢̧͓̜͍̤̼̤̜͓̥͎̳̟̝̅̓̓̓͌͒̍̂͌͒́̌͂̍̾͜͠h̕ͅȩ͖̹̠͐̈̍̆r̠̯̹͌̋̾̕͢e̢͚̦̼̣̬̱̤̥̗̟͇͕͈̮̥̮̙̭̭̭͇̓̔̆̈́̃̆̓̉̒̅̽͊̉̊̿͗̎̑̚̚͘͟͜͞͝͞.̢̝̟͊̈́̈́̀͟_ ”

“̨ͦ͘ _Our t͟͞r͜͞ĕ̳͘͜ẹ̓s̗̔ ̬͋a̩̳͓̓̎̕r͍̿ȩ̼̮̻͒̏͂̀͜ s̛̥m̳͘a̭̳̭̱̜̋͐͐̆́̚͟l̨̚l̲͕̠̻̱̝̀̊͂̔̋̚͟͞ ͚͋c̜̪̫̣͖̽͗͗̃̈́o͈̝͕̥͋͌̕̕n̜̭͈̑̌s̡͇̩̥̘̅̒̿̎̌̔͜ę͔̻̠̣̳̺̊̽̉̉͋̋q̱͍̫̾͒̎u̲̔ě͍̓ͅn̡͞c̨͕̯̘̦͍͚̝̭͈̻̅́̈͐̄͒͂̊̇̑͠è̢̛̠̠̤͈̩̪̩͂̃̓̀͘͡s̨̤̭̺͐̌̍ ̱̠͈̉̌̿͟͝ṭ̺̬͕̖̋̓̐͒̐͟͠ǫ̺̰̜͚̙͍̿̄̂͒̐̊̏ ̡̪͙͖̝̳̯̩̩͍̈̏̂̒̀̿̿́̀̇́̕͟͟͠ͅs̺̟̉̅q̮̤̻͈͆̽́̚ừ͚̹͉̺͍̘̘̣̖̲̘̆̎͌̍̍̈́̒̕̕͟a̦̹̲̝͓̖͍̬̼̔̎̋̈́͊̌̑̚sh̦̣̣̖̠̝̪̼͔̜͈̱̤̎̅̅̽̎̉̐̋̕͘͘͟͠͠ ̛̺̤͓͔̫̪̗̟̜͚̗̗̩̙̋̂̉̓́̐̌̈̀̅̌̄̏͐͜ͅa̢̦͎̙̣̱̤̬͉̻̐͌͗́͒̿̆̐̊̎̽͂̕͟͢͢͟n̯͆n͓̮̣̣̝̹̩̽͒̄͂̎͑̎͘̚͟ͅǫ̯̝͇͎͚͇͇̜̃͂̑͌̿͂͒̊͞͞ͅy̝̟͕͔͍͎̣͌̄̉̐̂͗̍ì̠͖̮͔͎̮͓̟͍͈̱͕̘̭̳̻̹̓̿͋̌̋̌͗͌͋̏̀̓̓̀̔͗͘͢͜n̳͙̺̻̐̇̍͘g̢̝͓̹̫̞͔̤̖̝͑̈̅̐̅́̈̚͘ f̢̣̙̹̤̯̱̩̟̪͌̾̈́̽͋͆̓̓̕͜͝l̙̰̮̹͕͈͎͍͇̹̜̪̟̦̼͉̖̭̈́̊̔̒̇̐͗̂̓̒̊͂̊͑͝͡͡͡iȅ̛̮̤s̨̧̧̖͚̪̗̻͓̙̗͓̲̤̉͂͑͐̃̀̎̓͊͋͞͞ ͉̫̱̖̰̗̖̠̻̤̪̝̫͚̹̺̝̠̪̯͓̯̂͊̈́͐͊̀̈̍̎̓͆̔̓͂͗͑̆̊̽̀̄̕͟ḽ̂͑͌͜ͅỉ̧̻͙͙̬̫͍̱͇̱̹͎̪̬͎̪͆́̎̾́̓͛͒͛̇̅̈͘̕ķ͙̩̯̰̺͙̯̟̜͉̰̹̩̹͗̎̈́͒̂͑̔̾̌̒̃̉̔͑̇͜͞ͅȩ̭̤̗̜̯͆̉̉̏̒͢͡ ̞͙̘͚̣̱͑̔͛̿͗̋y̨̼͎͕̞̱̺̤͎̗̦̬̩̹͖̹̮̘͛͆͐͐̂̇̉̉̓͒̈́̃̄o̟̭͛u̞̳̝̗̻͉̿̿̓͢͝͡͡.̛ͧ̃͗̍͏͝_ ”

The distorted voices made Keith wince as he felt it through his teeth, like a fork scraping against a plate or a mean teacher making the chalk in their hand squeak on the blackboard. He had always hated those kinds of noises and now it was surrounding him, tenfolds. 

“You get to manage that whole forest?” Lance asked boldly, showing no ounce of fear. “That’s admirable, ladies.”

The Dryads stopped making the trees shake and bend, looking at him with an incredulous look on their face. Keith also couldn’t believe Lance would just compliment them like that.

“ _Fawn̡͍͌͛i̧̹͒n͔͋̐͜ģ͔͇̥̃̍̀̿ ̢͎̼̈̿͘ų̛̦̯̰̌̐͑͢͝p̪͔̅̽͘͟ō͔̩͗n͆͢ ̨̫̘͙͛̅̏̈ṵ̳̃̓s͖͇̲̙̄͑͋͌͌͟ ̖̱̦̝̈̂̑̕ẅ̡̡̮̣̗͎͕́̄́͋̓̄͞į̞̻̝̣̜̔̔̊̾̈́͛l̢̩̮̤̼̈̈́́̽͞l̛̥̟̟͚̗͑̅̒͑ ̢͎̘̙̘̣̟̥̠̘̀̎̇͒͛̎͌̽̃͡n̛̳͍̞̘̟̟̭̙͚̱͕̰̿́̾̀̓̏̈́̚͟ǫ͕̩̙̬̮͔͋̋̇͐͊͋͆͢͝ͅt̨̛̜̗͉̲͇̝̝̬̱͉͚͕͋̒̉̿͌̒̿̾̚̕̕͝ ̧̱̥̭̮̩̥̠̙̘̋͐̈́́͒̃̒͛̋̔͘͢s̡̲̥̘̝̼̗̥͎͔͂̿̆̋͛̐͐̍̎̔͢͞a̪̭̭͈͔̮̲͎͖̅̎͐̓͗̿́̇̓͜v̧̲̟̰̗̗̥̫̫̦͉̹͕̥̗͂̋̊̃̍͋̓̇̏̽͆̈́̉͗͞͡ͅḙ͚͋̿ ̡̨̛̛͇̘̮̪̤̝̔̅̈́̅̎̊ỵ̛̛͍̺̜̳̳̪͇̙̣̗͐́́̒̿̊̿̏̚o̡̨̧̢̤̦͙̲̩̒͆̾́̉̏̓́̕͢͜͜͞͝ͅṷ̢̜̼͉̮̗̝͚̙͍̿̽̾͑́̑̑̄͋̊r̡̧̠̭̺̳͕̫̮̰̦̣̣̱͇̺̘̂͑̐̔̀̋͗̄͛̅̎͒̂̏̚̚͜͜͡͠͡ ̧̳̫̙̞̼̱̭̘̥̭̠̦͔̺͂̉͑̒́̎̈͐̋̊̍̐̒͘͞s̺͖͉͎̜̩̲͓̓̇͒̌̄͘ỗ̧̼̩͎͕͎͖̥͖͔͔̼̹̩̈̑͌͂̅̓̇͐̃͠͝u̡̢̢͎̱̘̣̮̮̙͉̝̎̏̾͂́͌̄͋̐̏͜͠͞ͅļ̧̭̠̟̬̤̘̭̄̒̆̿̒́̚͡.̡̡̡̛̛͍̣̘̥̘̙̞̝̜̪͕͇͍͖͙͈̤̎͛̋͂͑̇̉͌̔̇̊̏́͗̃̐͘͢͝͡  
”  
̢ͨ̊̋̔ͬ͜  
“̈́͒͒̈́ͬ͐̍̚͘͞We ͈̈a̹͐r͕͒ḙ̥̹̀̾͞ ̳̖͊̎p͓͠o̖̳̥͂̄̕w̢̺̬̯̦̬͑̓̎͗̄̋e̹̿f͚̟̦̖̑̿̈́͝u̼̰̠̰͕͗̎̏̌͡l̳͙̯͎͉̜͚͑̉͐̈́͑̍͞,̤̺̣̏̂͘ ̞̻̼̮̹̍̋̃̈͟͡͠b̡͑ȗ̟͕̬͆̀͟͠t̥̣̳̯̞̉̓̓͑͜͠ ͇̥̥̲̗̎́̇̍n̨̙̦͇̘̐̾̊̽̄̉ͅó̡̨̞͔͓͎̰̳̪̺͔̊̋̐̇̀̉̃̾͐͘͘͟t̡̼͇͉̞̥̘̝̼̰͎̥̙̆̇̿̐͆͛̿̐̀̍̈́́͠͠ͅ ̡̧̠̩͎͔͖̐̋̍̔̂͆͘t̓͢ą̖̠̮̦̼̬̩͇̻̩̟̙̃̈́̌̀̂̔͊͘͝͞͡͡͝ķ͗ȩ̛̛̯̣̳̺̖̗̹̺̝͖̻͈̦̖̅̔̾͐̒͒̉̆͒͋͂͛͘ñ̨̛̙̣͙̱̘̠̪̂̏̃̓̑̚͟ ̲̮̙͑̒̓b̡̢̹̠̬͖̙̭̝͓͇̠̹͒̔̏̓̾͗̒̍̂̑͛̃̕͟͠y̝̭͉͆̕͜͞ ̧̢͎̗͎̙̰̬̙͚̠͎̘̩̘͇̜̰̒͑̋͂̓̔̽͂̈͐̋̏͑͂̆̉̓͜͞h̛̰͔̹̩̙͈͇̮̒̓̑̈́͌̌̚ú͇b͆͜r̨̖̝͉̙̮͎̒͐̿͂̽̚͞ȋ͕͟͡ş̛̗̖͔̭̖̤̘̺͙̻̟̘̔̎̍̏̽̂̇̓̏̎͡.̨̲̭̥͕̱̰͓̪̥̱̥͇͚̝͎̺̳͎̫̖͑͋͂͆̆̎̔͊̓͑͂̔̌̏̊̀̌͗̚͜͞͞͞͡ͅ  
”_

“I’m not trying to save myself. Or them, for that matter.” Lance continued, thumbing behind him toward Keith and the others. Keith didn’t know what game he was playing right now but he vowed to kill him in their next lives in the Dryads murdered them because of him. “I’m just being honest.”

The Dryads looked at each other, put off. 

“ _Arẽ̘ y̜̐ơ̩u͕̳̓̿ ̫̺͎͛̑̄n̛̬͚̩̂̎ö̖̮͍́̈̓̐ͅt̙͉͖͚͔̔̀̆͐͝ ̜͇̱̏̒͞ẗ̩̫́͑ry̛̟̖̟͎̍͊̍i̖͓̩͍̎̿̇̆n̛͍g̭̥̥͆̓̐ ̳̰̅͊t̨̙̖̻̻̫̻̟̲̫͊̌͊̈́̋̀̈́͘̚o̮͓͈͆̃͠ ̠̺͈̭̔̐͆̚f̨̰̲̤̥̮̙̞̣̱̼̒̏̓͐̇͐̅͒̚͝l̗͆e̛̝͙̲͕̖̹̤͚͉̟̹̗͔̘̩̾̽̌̑̄́͊́͑̔̅̅̓͟͝͝ḛ̟̲̱͙̗̣̌̅̏́̚͘͞ͅ ̢̢̧̧̨͇̲͇̫͚͖͔̦̜̰͚̥̣̇̔̐͒̾̓̑͌̑̌͐̂͐̍̆͝͝f̨̎ŗ̡̛͔͓̬̹̟̜͆̉͊͆̅͐͂͋̿͜͢͜͡ō̧̹̎m̢͉̮̲͇̖͔̮̳̾͂͊̾̾̒̐̓̚͟͡ ̨̨̛̛̳͇͈͍̹͔͍̫̰̤͈̜̳̈́͋͂̈͂̾̌̃́̓͐͒͟͠ų̢̛̜̗̩͓̰͕͉͓̦̞̋͌̃̇͋̄̆̄͆͂̍̇͟͠ͅs̼̩̘͍͇̱̞̯̤̅̿̆̽͊͌̀̐̚?̤̘̤̳̗͔̙̘̮̻̄͗̽̾͒̽̂̇̍͗̑͜͜͝_ ” The one who seemed to be the leader of their group asked, her skin cracked and breaking at parts like a branch forgotten too long under the sun. 

“I think we’re already tired from walking in your little infinite zone. And that would not be the wisest thing to do considering we’re stuck in a loop.”

“ _Yoů͓͇̉ ̖͍̓̿͟͠d̟̜̊̿o͛͟ ̜͙̹͈͛̐͡n̖̗̖̏͋̐ǒ͙̫̌t̗͙̀̇ f̍͜ę̢͎̺̙̦̰̂̔͂͌͋̈́̚a̧̘̝͉̳̞̖͈͈͂͗̎̃͊͐̒͟͡͠ͅṛ͉̳̤͎̠͓̼̝̼͈̥̮̃̊̂͆͒̈͗̕̕͢͝͞͠͞͞ͅ ̨̧͍̝͚͔̺̺͕͍͈̦̽̑̔́̾͊̔̐͝͝u̧̢̥̭̜̞̟̝̣̣͈̼͕͇̒̈́͒̆̔̔̋̇̍̇̀͗̓͢͡͡ͅs.̢̡̛̻͕̭͓̯̯̬̪̩̣̺͙̥̞̬̺̿̇͑̐̋̅̎̐̏̀͛́͑̐̑̆̆́̂͜͜͢ ̬̥̟̯̟̍͐̂͠_

 _̶̨̛ͥ̋̉̆̅̈͑ͬ  
““̀̉̿̌ͨ͑̊Why ẁ̜o̭̯̎̊u̗̅l͚̽d͎ ̣̙̑͘h̠̪̖͌͌̕ę͙̪̈́͋͠͝ͅ?̛͕͖̪̬̜͗̔́͞ ̢͠H̛̛̫̝̖͙̘̆͆̐ḙ͉͎̥̗̟͗̏̇̑͌͝ ͕̼͈̝͈̀̌̃̇̿ī͖̮̪͈̜͓̇̾͛̈́s̢͚̥̤̻̎̆͂͜͞ ̛̜͔̙̼͎̆͗̏̕̕ͅk͓̜̍i̢̠̤͇̭̘͓̼̾͆̈̓͗̽̒͒̚͟͝ͅn̰̪̤̔̆̌.͖̐ ̛̩̜͈̝́̃̈́̕̚͜͟A̛̩͇̼̞͚̺͙̘͇͔̣̔̂͌͛̊͗͛̐͐́ ̺͖̫̬̦̓̑͋̓̒͢͠c̨̢̛͍̘̝͙̥͕͉̞̑̒̅͒̋̐̿͝r̟͍͑͒͜a̗̖̾̄f̰͍̝̠̻̮͚͇͔̆͊̅͌̀̓̉̄̈̏̄̾͢ͅͅt̳͊y̢̛̛͔̘̯̟̗̥̝̬̼̓͂̉͛̅̌͛͘,̧̹̭̹͆͊͊̓ ͈̼̞̺͖̾͛̄͞c̡̮̰̯͉͙̞̞̳̄́͗̆̄͐̆͝͡ų̨̛̰̀̀ñ͕̪͎̭̦̟̓͌̿͌̃͗̾͟ͅn͉͚͐͡i̢̝̯̩͖͇̻̜͈̓́̈͌̎̎̄͛͘͟͢͡͞ṉ͍͖̣̩̗̙̘͙̙̖͎̦̑̐̂̇͛͒̽̑̀̾̐͌̾͐̈́̉͟͜͢g̹̼͋͗͢͝ ̛̪̫͔̺̑̋̚͟͞w͖̿á͉ṱ͇̠̠̗̟̗̺̺̳̦̩̩̬̭̦̗̪̮͙̂̇͊̑̉̂̄̈́̊̄̋̾̈́͊͆͌̿͜͡͞͠ȩ̧̡̛̦̤̩̘̣̩̱̼͓̘͓̠͍͖̔̓̉̅̈͂̅̓͗́͒͆͐͘̕͠͠ͅr̢̢̤̱̻͚̰̦̬͉͖̠͉̖̬̭͉̩͎̀̆͒́͆̽͌͆̋̓̄̄́͒͒͗͐̕͟͟͡͡ ̹̝̟̜̱͌͊̀͝b͖̗̪̲͎͈͓͂̈̀̚̚͝r̡͕̠͍͙̤͙̲̹̙͚̓̓͂̐̓̿̊̃̌͋͢͝ọ̡̧̧̬̩͖̝̳̬̩͉̝̲͎͖̖̃̃̒̆̾̅̇̓̏̀̈́̔͒̅͂̒̇͢͠ͅṱ̡̡̢̛̘̫̣̥͈̳̺̬̺͕̹͎̳̹̹͓͍̔̑͂͆̈̑̈́̒̊̂͋̈́̍̊͂̉͘̕͡͠ͅḩ̧̞͇͚̞̩͈̙̳͔̻̦͐̈́̍͌̿͛̿͆̎̆̅̐͘͘͟͡ͅę̢̧̨̟̱̖̟̙͍̭͈̭͔̙͉̯̼͍̼̥͎̓̅̂̇̉͋̋̾̊̓̆̓̾̍̍̊̾͆͒͘̚͢͠ͅr̛̗͇̥̞͗̿̌.̨̢̲̜͉̗͍̰͇̌͊̅̋͛͋͡͡͝_.͂ͭ”

“So sisters, can I call you sisters? My name is _**ℓαεҡ૮εร ℓεσɳყร ɓყ૨ɳε ყα∂เε૨ ɱ૮૮ℓαเɳ**_ it is a pleasure to meet you.”

There was a weird glitch when Lance spoke his name, making Keith’s hear ring and him blank out for the few seconds, making him usure Lance actually said anything. But the Dryads were retreating a bit, whispering to each others, the wind carrying noise of nails scraping against metal to his ears. 

_"Thrã̖s͈͆i̝̚ṣ̽ȇ̡."͈͈̦̄̇̀_

_"͓̜̼͗̈͠Ṭ̛̖̂ý͙͕̉ḳ̥̽͐i̳͞p̫̝̎̅̓̽͜͜he̻͙͂͐͟."̛̩͉̜͎͊͐̏̀̿͢ͅ ̳͈̝̱̬̽̅̃͐̾_

_̦̻͔̥̐̍̃͑"͈͌M͔͙̬̓͌͘a̦̹͕̰̫̖̭̫͛̄̈́̀̆̀̕̕t̪͕̘͍̜̖̣́̑͊̓̓̅͘ę̦̩̲͙͉͔͓͂̄̓̋̂͘͠͠ľ͚̓͢ȩ̢̞̞̰̘̘̗͊͑̈́̄́͌͠a̢̺̙͍͐͊̚͘.̟͙̬̊̀̐"̣̩̮̼͈̝̜͊̍͛̃̾̈͘ ̡̬̥̟̑̑͋͠_

_͍̚"̨̣͍̠̙͋̔͊͋͞L̜̯͖̣̻͍̬̞̒̏̓̑͗͋͞͞i̳͔͇̜̼͖̖̾̉̉̊͂̾̏͟͝l̦͇̖̊͗̂i̭̙͐͡f̧͇̙̦̝͎̌̊͛̋͗͘l͚̤̭̭̦͍̖͕͇̼̺͈̉͑̇̂̅̓͒̓̕͘͠ͅǒ̡̞̩̄̆̕͜r̡̺̝̤̺̺̳̹̺̙̻͈̦̈̋̎̽͊̈̍̍͆͋͊̍͞ȃ̢̹̰͕̪̻̠̲̾̋͊̎̄̎̏̕ͅ.͎̣̔̔"̦̠͒̑ ̢̠͗͞_

_̡̢͓͎͕̘̯̩̪̔̊̔̍̄͗͂̇̔͟͟͝͝"͇̀Ȃ̧̠̮̺̂̍̃̈͢s̨̼̰̩̩̽̉͂̌̔͠ͅi̜̣̗͒͛͞m̪̼͓͇̘̹͔̩̻͆͗̎͒̾̈́̓͟͡͝͝ȉ̢̜̫̯͚̪̖̜͙͎̬͓̈͋͛̍͂̎̋͘̚͝͞ͅn̥̮̲̞͍̘͈̳̮̘͉͙͈̉̍͌̉̒̀̏̇̓̽̃̀͜͠͝͞ͅa̧̨̱͔̺̗͇̳͈̗͐͗̆͑̒̑͐̋͠.̡͕͔͍̩̭̌̂͐̈́̏͘"̡̖̬̤̬͚͛̋̔̌͗͒͘͟ ̤͍͔͇͍̫̝͔̲̫̆̐̎̌̐̂̉̒͌̓̔͟ͅ_

_̘̍̕͟"̨͎̤͇̭̲̻͙͕͙͎̣̘̥̙̑͛͛̈̍͂́͑̈́̓͂̃̏̉̈́͋̔͢͟D̰̥͓͒͋̓e̛̼̦̹̣̲̰̠̜̯̜̲͎͎͓͆̂̐́̉̀́͛̄̊͝͡͝r̫͇̹̖̗͊̔̒̎c̡̢̡̳̜̭̫̬̞̓̾̎͊͊̔̈̚͜͡͞e̤̠̓̕ţ̡̛̭̯̳̻̂̓̑̊͝i̡̛̙͔̖̥̹̠̯͖̪̪͖̻̿̄̋̈̋̍̈́̅̌̐̊̑͟͞s̩̠̱̠̯̲̦̻̬͈̮͐͗͗̄̽͆͒̄̑͘.̝͔̻̬̰̘͙͓̯̬͓̩͕̙̼͓̿̅͌̊͗͊̎̏̓̋̓̄͛̕̚̕͝͡ͅͅ"̡͎̟̩̗͓͉̘̙͊͐̈́͐͊̆̓͋͘͘͜͢͝ ̨̧̳͈̞̲̟̙̬̼̗͎͓̰̲̥̳͖̜͌́̎̓̐̄̔͊͊̍́̓̿̊̂̿̈́́͘͘ͅ_

_̧̛̝͓̹̫̲̬͈̆̍͒̾͐̌̓̚͜"͕M̧̬̳̭̗̜̿͒̂̓͑̊ę̧̦͕̦͍̭̦̓͊͋̀̆̒̈̉͟͝lơ̡̧̨̡̖̦͓͈̮͙̰͎̗̳̩̗̼̯̻͉̟̪͎̅͂̉̎̓̀͋̉̒̑̄͐́͊͆͗̂̊̃̽̏͘͟͝ͅr̘͋o̧̪̳͈̟̼͎̱͇̹̻̹̬͚̳̦͓̣͓̰̮͌̾̽̆̎̀̐̊͌̐͋͂̽͛̆̆̎̚̚̚̕͜͢͢͜͞p̨̧̛͚͉͇͖͓̲͚͎̠͚̻͚͔͍̪̟̩̺̊̈͊͒̍͑͑͋͌̐̈́͑̄͋̄̾̊͂͊̚͜ͅͅȩ̨̳͙̩̻̰̮̤͔̼̰̹̩̼̗̝̙͔̹̄͒̊͊̓̂̉̅̊̉͑̽̃̎̑͘̕͘͘͢͢͞.̧̺͉̘̱̳̲̘͒̓̇̆̽̃̀͘͘̕͟͜ͅ"̡͚̥̗̩̻͓͗̅͆͌̕͝͡_ ”

Was Lance seriously becoming all buddy buddy with them? These girl like beings had no qualm in wanting them dead and Lance wanted to be casual with them? What was he going to do next, ask for tea and crumpets?

“It’s a real honor meeting you, sisters.” He bowed slightly, gesturing them to do the same, which Keith followed with reluctance. It seemed to have appeased the Dryads a little bit as they were less aggressive than previously. 

“But as you can imagine, those are my preys and I simply cannot let you take them from me. I hope you understand.” He sighed, looking displeased and a little bit sad. “This one’s already dead too.” He pointed at Pidge who waved sarcastically, which the Dryads seemed to be oblivious to. “And that one is way too old to be nutritious to any of us. But he keeps that girl calm,” he pointed towards Allura this time, which made her squint her eyes menacingly at him.” so he gets to live for the moment.”

“ _I ḱ̢n̳͑o̟͎̐̆̿͛͢͜w̰̫͖̾̌̚ ̖̊ŏ͍̬̲͈̱͋̏͞f̢̛̗̪̖̩̻̅̐͒͝ ̢̦̙̞͙̎͆͐̔̂͛̇͟͢͡ͅy̛̻̖͎̾́͜͝o̞̞͙̤̾̃̐͠ư̢̩̭̙̖̜͇͒̾̅̀̿̂͜͢͠͞r͍͙͙̯̞̀͗̕͞͝ ̡̲̗͙̗͍̳̯̩̼͎̙̇̅̈͋̉͛̔̉̓̂̒̓̕͜͝ͅŗ̡͚̙̣̘̬͚͓̞̼͈̟̈́̒͋̌͌̂͐̔̉̄͟͝͠͡ơ̡̜̗̩̥̭̟̝̫͚͓͉̭̰̰̦͇̬͈̹̲̄͒̍̃̅̆̽͛͊͌̌̊̐͒̒͘͞͞͡o̝̪̱̖̥̯̦̹͍̺̜̖̙͑̈́̾͊̊̉͑̂̐̒͐̉͢͝͡ţ̡̢̧̡͎̱̱̳̺̘̗͖͓͉̹͕͙̜̫̥̫͍̽̎̿̍̔̓̍̊̒̔̏͗̏́̈̆̅̐̓̂̃͠͠s̢̤͇̝̖̲͕̺͖͕͐͊̎̈̾̔̓͂͘͢͟͝͠_ ” Thrasise said. She was clearly the leader of her group. Keith wondered what a group of dryads were called. A bush? Or a briar?

“ _Old F̭̎am̼̉il̹̆y̙̟̑͞.̳̝̦͒̓͊ ͈͔̊̐_

_"O̟͠ḽ̙̘̎͒͐͐ͅd̮̰͌͂ ̖͑l͔̤͕̾́͡ị̖̟͐̊̆͜͞ņ̨̛̳̆͜͡ê͇̣͍̒̂a̧̘̪̝̪͖̝̠͂͗̈̐̑̚͘͞ġ̛̟̥̳̜̺͓͕̗͗͑͞͝ȩ̨̘̪͕̳͒̆͛͗̍̿͝ͅ."̢̱̺̝̲̌̂̎̊͘̚͢ ̜̤̪̣̇̏͗͟͠_

_̘̤̳̭̉͐̍̅"Y̢̨̨̫̹̪͚̞̬͒͑͆̆̾̔̾̏͡o͕̼͖͕̖͕̭͖͛̈͐̇̀̽̉̕͢͝ͅư̜͎͉̯͎̱͍͛̃̓͋̀̏n̬̦̤͉̆̾̎͝g̗͋e̝̙̗̖̰̗̯̦̥̳̍̌͒̂̈̄̓͋̌͂͘͟͜͠ŗ͖͎̹̻̝̰̘͙̇͒͛̏̑͆̊̓͞ ̟̪̿̍͐͟t̛̲̜̥͕̖͑̆̾̕͢ḧ͉̣͚̖͉̹̬̜̘͓͇̙́̄͛͒̾̀̂̀͋͑̚a͉̲͍̰̲̙̭̭̦̥͑̀̒͒͋͂́͗̃͠ͅñ̨̢̢̰͈͙̼̖͓̱͚̝͌͋̈́̂̅̂̀͒̕͜͠͞ ͍̥̟̱̗͕͚̠̫̪͎̄̈͗͒͛͐́̇̀͗̍ͅẗ̡̖͎̩̪̖͍͖͎̮̩̬̮́̏̐͋̿̊̐̌̽͂͂̊͘h̛̥̟̼̩̹͕͈͍͍͚̟̠̎̊̌͗̂͒͋̋̊̍̇͊͜ͅe̜̱͑̕ ͇͎̗̊̿̽W͟i̲͉̝̤̥̬̭͓͕͉̝̥̱̭̼͆́̓͂̌̋́͂͋̃͌̈̄̚͘̕͟͟͞ț̣̦͖͎̤̦̘̠̝̣̼͎̦̋͆͛̊͆̿̈̋̽̏̇̅̂c̨̢̡̛̛̛̥̙͉̠̤̝̼͇͚̥͚̬̪̫͒̓̈͌̉̑̒͐͗̓̽͛͝͞ḧ̨̪͈͔̬̰̲̘̞́͒̌͛̌̕͘͞͝.̤̦͎̝̅̽̂̃̀͟"̡̢̨̜̭͙̖̯̫̯̹͔̮̻͒̈͐͛̔͗͂̍͑͒͂͌̔͢ ̨̠̫̳̖̤͙͉̘̼̄͒͌͗̏̂͊̒̓̕͝ͅ_

_"͕͖̮̯͑͒͊O̢̢͙͕̹̲̣̖̺̰̬͙̰͋̊͌̎̋̓̋́͛̉̚̚̚̕ͅl̰̒de̢͍͈͖̤͕͇͓͙̠̭̭̥̳̭̿͌̽̀̓̐͋̇̒͐͐͗͟͟͡͡͞͞ṟ̡̨̢̛͎̤͚̗͔͔͂̏̏͑̋̏́͌͜͞͞ ̛̯͚̪̝̥̟̗̯̤̞̰̱͇̮̖͚̦̇̊̓͑͐̆̉̒̍̓̎̽̇͘͞t̨̢̟͉̗̳̜͓͎̠̞̥͇̫͎̣̣͇͚͇̃͗̂͋̃̒̂͋͌̈̽͑̄̅͊͗̌̏̐͘ḩ̪̼̱̖̫̹̼̰̥̦͔̟̟̔̈̉͐̑̔̈́̉̒͗͑̐̿͟͜͟͡͠͞͝͝ͅa̢̨̩̞̙̩̹̭͖̜͇̜͕̪͒͗̓̈̈́̾̐͌͌͆͗̆͟͠͞͞n̠͙̝̦͖͛̓͒̾͆͘͢ͅ ̧̨̰̘̤̦̱̪̝͚͍̬̳͑̃̓͑̃̅͑̃̃̌͝͞͠ṳ͘ş̼̦͈̘̝͖͓͈̣͇̼̦̩̼͇̪̟͐̀̾̈̽́̌̀̈́̿̌̿́͌̈̚͝ͅ?̡̡̨̱͓̱̼̜̙̱̥̳͇̖͍̗̦͈̠̪͇̑́̆͌̑͗̏͗̎̈́͋͑͋̿̒̽̚̚͜͠͞"̡̡̢̳̥̬̠͚̗͍͈͎͉̓͆̏̔̿̂̿̐͐̉̚͢͠͠͞͝ͅ_

Keith didn’t quite understand the situation but apparently Lance was scaring them - or rather his name and family seemed to. Lance didn’t look displeased of the situation, rather being far too calm and composed than he usually was. Since his back was turned to them, it was impossible to see his face but something in Keith told him he didn’t want to look at it if he wanted to keep his life. It was frightening coming from someone he called a friend.

“ _Bû͔t̼̣͋̾..̜͔͑̎.̮͓̲̓͒̋ ̧̨̦̘̺͖̖̀͂̇̽͌̾̋T̜̑h̹͈̻͙̞̿̿̋͛͂͢͞è͎ ̧̨̦͙̪̻͎͖̹̙̘͉̳̬̆̎̑̃̈̈̌̈̂̒́̃̕͟͡͝͡ͅA͉͇̦̪͚͉̯̍̋̂͌͠͝l͎̻͍͂̒͆t͍̹̠̘̰̖̩̋̃͗̿͂̃͌ḛ̣̭͙̺̙̟̫̑͋̆̑͒̀͐ä̡̧̛̱̱̩̬̳̜̘̝́̋̿̄̍̈͘͘͢͠͠n̢̢̪̥̼̰̬̖͍̼̻̮͖͙̼̺̙͎͎̑̽̋̾̀̎̽̀̒͂́͊̍̾̐̅̅͊̏̕͟͜_ ” The smallest Dryad - Asimina? - tried to argue, pointing at Allura with a finger that looked like a piece of wood left to rot underwater. 

“My prey. My meal.” Lance voice snapped like Allura’s whip, shaking two of the Dryads, including the one who just talked. 

The Dryads turned to one another, their whispers picking up again as they threw glances towards their group. Keith didn’t like how venomous they sounded but he had no idea how to react as Lance was still standing in front of them. His shoulders looked tense even if his pose was seemingly relaxed and one of his leg was slightly shaking, one step away from showing how nervous he certainly was. After all, Lance was currently trying to bluff five powerful tree ladies that could kill them before they had the time to run away; not that they had anywhere to run since they were still stuck in their loop. 

“Á̷͌̏ͮ̂҉͞lͥ҉̨͡l̄̚ ̷ͭ̆ͭ̿ͧ̿̅͂͡f̉̓͊̃͐̚iͩ͋̓͌͜v͂͐͗ͬ͞͞e̸͒̄͋?̡̅ͦ̐ͣ͂̽̿” the leader of the Dryads tried to argue, skeptical.

“I’m ℓαεҡ૮εร” He growled and that was not a sound Keith wanted to hear coming from his friend ever again. It was deep, rumbling and made his head swim stronger than it did before. “You do not get to decide about my decisions.”

The Dryads snarled at him from their positions, the trees getting back at bending, twisting, breaking towards them. Hunk screamed in fear as thorny vines whipped their way, never touching them once but close enough to feel the sharp breeze from the move. They huddled together as roots bursted out of the ground to claw towards them even as Lance was the only one not affected by the Dryad’s wrath. 

The sudden, resounding caw of a crow made the creepers twitch in fear and the roots recede as the dryads recoiled, whimpering. Even Lance seemed shaken up and no one moved for a moment before the Dryads growled one last time towards them and disappeared in a burst of rotten leaves and waterlogged moss; their disappearance brought a purple shimmer in the air to burst like a bubble and the atmosphere around them to become less oppressing, as if the walls had taken a step back from caging them. Not a lot from what he had been feeling since they walked in the Court but enough for him to breathe a little bit better. 

“Well, that could have gone better.” Lance’s voice shook him from his thoughts as his friend walked back to them, wariness on his face. “But now we got a bigger problem because _I_ wasn’t the one scaring them away.”

“Wasn’t it just a crow?” Pidge asked, clearly becoming as fed up as Keith about the whole situation.

“It was an invitation.” Allura said, somber. Even Coran had a dark spark in his eyes. “The master of this Court wants us to come.”

“And how do you know that?” Hunk asked, suspicious.

“Because Allura and I received the same ‘invitation’ when we first arrived in this Court.” Coran answered, now looking tired and a bit demotivated. He seemed quite reluctant to talk more about it and if he understood Allura’s downcast eyes, she would be the same. He didn’t quite know what they had to endure before they met but it shouldn’t had been easy. 

“We were five in numbers at first but two succumbed from the Court’s traps and the last one accepted the Witch’s offer to gain power by joining them.” Allura explained, although a bit reluctant. “We were lucky to have been able to win our challenges but we are trapped until we find the stairs.”

Lance nodded at that while Pidge looked frustrated and Hunk passably emotional from their experiences. Keith instinctively knew they didn’t start talking about that to gain their sympathy but only to shed light on their own struggles. He found that admirable they continued to keep going and kept living in such a place.

“Wait, I have a question.” Hunk suddenly said, pointing at both Allura and Coran. “Why did that plant lady called you an altean?”

Lance’s snort came before Allura could say anything, prompting her to send him an outraged gaze. 

“Come on, Alteans have been dead for thousands of years. Dryads are just dumb. Only because someone has white hair doesn’t mean that they’re an alt-”

“We **are** alteans.” Allura cut him, tired of him. “But what do you mean by ‘thousands of years’, beast?” 

“Ok, that’s insensitive but I’m not going to say anything,” he mock gasped in faked deception. “And I say thousands of years because that’s basically that. My grandma said there weren’t any Altean left by her own mother’s first kill, which was some three thousand years ago?”

“No…” She whispered, her hands going to her mouth as she reeled from the news. “But what about Altea, is the Castle still standing?”

“Altea has sunk under the sea four thousands years prior to the Altean’s extinction.” Pidge chimed in, playing with her glasses. “But nowadays no one remembers 'Altea' because of time and widespread mistranslation of the city's name. Atalanta, Azltan, Hy Brasil all talk about the same event, probably spread around by the survivors. But there's one name everyone knows, now."

"Wait…" Keith was starting to have a headache. "You mean Atlantis was real and not some half baked conspiracy theory?" 

"If by 'conspiracy theory' you mean the hundreds of work from Greece, Roma and other old societies then first of all: you gotta stop being so sceptical about everything, Keith. That's bad for your health." Pidge sighed, looking disappointed in him. He was usually accustomed to that look but this time it stung a bit more than usual. 

“Well excuse me but I’ve been having surprises upon surprises thrown at me all night so I kinda want to keep some of my skepticism.”

“Wait, what did you mean by ‘Altea sunk’?” Allura asked frantically, shaking Pidge’s shoulder with force. 

“Honestly, what more do you want me to tell you? That’s all I know and that’s the same for Lance.”

“But my people…”

Before Pidge or Lance could say anything else to Allura, the mice squeaked at them, brushing past their feet and making a ruckus, prompting them to pick up the pace and stop idling. Allura’s face was heartbroken and Keith felt like they just did a hit and run on an unsuspecting pedestrian; even though he had no prior knowledge on Altea nor Alteans, not being able to properly let Allura and Coran accept the fact of their entire race disappearing without their knowledge was overly cruel. 

“We should continue walking.” She said, head low and expression hidden by her falling in front of it, like an icy curtain. “If we want to get out of this court, we will need to all be together.”

She turned around and began walking, not leaning against Coran as heavily as before but still enough to show she was still under the backlash of her spells. Lance lifted a hand towards her, as if to try and explain himself, excuse himself probably but Coran and her set a rather fast pace and they had to scramble to catch up to them. The mice seemed unaware of the situation, still squeaking in front of them, urging them forward. 

After that, stepping out of the forest was surprisingly easy and fast, without any more troubles; the infinite loop being gone, they only took five minutes to find themselves in a big clearing, the black sky heaving upon them without the frail protections of the foliage. 

In front of them, sinking into the ground and forming a deep depression was something that strikingly tressembled an old Roman theatre with its marble structure and circular shape. It was massive and seemed extremely deep, extending too far for his eyes to see what was happening at the bottom.

“I bet ten bucks they aren’t watching a play.” Hunk muttered, having clearly reached the limit of things he could take on with a calm mind. “I mean, what the heck! How deep is even that thing?!”

“Heh.” Was all Pidge answered, seemingly as tired as he was at the Court’s shenanigans. 

“Come on,” Allura urged them. “Your friend is down there, the mice is getting impatient.”

“Have fun.” Lance said, taking a few steps back. Pidge groaned at that and even Keith felt irritated. Shiro was so close and now Lance was playing difficult? 

“Just close your eyes and go.” Pidge said with a little more force than necessary. “I’ll hold your hand.”

“I don’t trust you!” Lance whined, crossing his arms in front of himself. “Why are you always so eager to throw me down stairs?!”

“Because it’s urgent and you need to curb that fear.” She snapped back, walking to him to try and pull him to the stairs. Keith was growing restless and seeing Lance plant his feet on the ground, refusing to move an inch was starting to make him even more upset.

“Why don’t I carry you on my back?” Coran offered as Allura was visibly well enough to walk by herself. “That way, you won’t have to walk them down. I’ve known of other species who detested stairways and all had fascinating stories. For example, did you know that-”

“Thank you Coran.” Allura interrupted him, looking like it was common occurrence for Coran to start talking about random topics. Keith had a feeling those stories weren’t small either, which was probably for the best that Allura stopped him.

Lance looked conflicted about it, perhaps a little unwilling to be on a back that wasn't Shiro's or doubtful of Coran's strength. Keith would have been, too, if he hadn't seen the man receiving Hunk's whole weight in his arms without flinching and that was probably what Hunk was saying to him with a low voice as Lance's face showed several conflicting emotions in a rapid pace. 

"I will be in your care." He finally relented, looking defeated. It was strange to see Lance on someone else, especially since the one that usually let him on his back was Shiro. 

It felt strange to see Lance on someone else’s back and pouting at that. Combined with his glaring at Pidge, it was comical to look at. Coran, on his side, was looking way more cheery and chipper than before, perhaps happy that he was able to be useful to someone else than Allura. Keith didn’t think that as a negative because Coran would be only loyal to her, but meeting new people and interacting with them was a strong moral boost. 

As the crisis was resolved, they began their walk down the stairs, eyes shifting nervously towards the strange black silhouettes that started appearing on the bleachers the most stairs they descended. Icy black, soulless and as deep as black holes, it was hard looking at them straight on but felt too much like being suffocated by the lack of colors and light when focusing on the stairs.

Keith did his best not to let his gaze wander to the sides, irresistibly attracted by the darkness, the pressure of dozens and dozens of eyeless glares on his back, making him restless. THere hadn’t been any sounds coming from any of those things, not a murmure, not a breathe but Keith felt like they were truly alive. The wind has even stopped being heard as well, making their walk down the stairway feel surreal and suffocating. 

“What’s up with those things…?” Pidge asked, arms crossed around herself as if to ward off the silhouettes. The shapes had made no moves to come towards them, to show they were actually interested in thel; there was also no way to tell if they turned their head towards them or not. 

“Don’t look at them.” Hunk stage whispered, sweat running on his forehead. “I”m pretty sure they’ll suck your soul off your body if you lock eyes with them.”

“They don’t even have eyes-”

“That’s not the point!!” Hunk hissed, swatting towards Pidge. Keith couldn’t really blame him for losing his composure because he was also perturbed by it; that impression of blackness, of having piercing eyes seeking the darkest part of his essence, pulling it apart, raising the embarrassing moments to the surface, the times he hurt others terribly, the times he hurts himself to the point of nearly losing himself; the last moments spent with his dad, the way he had yelled at him for something so innocent, so stupid as a toy. How lost he had felt when his father hadn’t come for him after school, how long he had waited with the teacher before a neighbor was kind enough to drive him back. How cold the house had felt, how strange without anyone in. 

The house had been dark, had felt menacing: akin to someone twisting the very nature of the word ‘home’ into something foreign, something wicked. So when the policemen came for him, he was too numb and grateful to get out of the house that he didn’t make a sound until he was brought to the orphanage. Even there, he had been quiet, he had been sharp. You cannot lose something you don’t have. You cannot hurt someone you don’t befriend. You can’t be hurt by them if you don’t care. 

Up until he met the Shiroganes, up until being adopted by them, he had been numb to everything; to his father’s death, to his shattered, sharp pride and the mother that abandoned him when he was only a baby. Up until then and combined with everything painful that happened afterwards, it all came back in his mind, his body; it weighed him down, made him want to puke, want to tear at his flesh with his nails until it came out of him, stop mangling his memories, stop bringing them to the surface, he just wanted to find Shiro, make sure he was alright, he wouldn’t forgive himself if anything had happened to him. Shiro, Shiro, Shiro-

The booming of a crowd cheering startled him as a hand caught the back of his shirt, stopping him from slipping on the stairs and tumbling down, efficiently waking him up. He really felt like throwing up, his throat aching from gagging as cold sweat made him shiver. With jerky moves, he turned towards his friends to see them in the same state as he was, disheveled, shaky and eyes downcast. Pidge was translucent, head down and face covered by her hair but she seemed extremely shaken up. Hunk and Lance were hanging off of each other, Lance apparently having set foot on the floor as Coran was hunched over with Allura, both shaking like leaves; whatever they had experienced had been enough to bring them to that sorry state and Keith was more scared than ever. Those black silhouettes had messed up with their memories, with the darkest, most hurtful part of their beings and he felt like it was only an appetizer.

Something had made those things and whomever that was had even more tricks up their sleeves to torture them. 

Looking around, he couldn’t see any of the black silhouettes anymore, just rows and rows of humanoid beings, all cheering furiously to whatever was happening in the ring; he looked behind them, trying to spot any traces of that suffocating darkness, only to discover the massive flight of stairs they had gone down just a moment ago, stretching on both sides was now shockingly shorter and menacing. 

“Was that another trick?” Hunk asked, so pale he could rival Pidge for her status as ghost. 

“I’ve never heard of anything like that.” Allura said, still trembling. “The ability to search our souls for the worst, most painful moments in one’s life is nothing that had been recorded previously.”

“I agree.” Lance sighed, whipping the sweat of his forehead. “Even if we can conclude it’s a new specie, as a contemporain Fae I should have learned of it. Yet I know nothing about it.”

“So, either these… things were ‘born’ here and doesn’t have the requirement to leave the Court or those were created by someone extremely powerful. If I can make a hypothesis, because our goal was to find Shiro and our will was set on it, if we showed enough resolve then it ‘granted us’ access.”

“That was just a test?” Keith asked, exasperated. “This was just a sadistic test to see if we truly wanted to find our friend - my fucking brother back?!”

“Keith, calm down.” Lance asked looking rather frazzled. Keith didn’t care at this point. He was cold, he was tired, hungry, thirsty and hurt. He had spend a part of that fucking night being chased by a dog, then being utterly scared for his friends lives. And now that they were nearing Shiro’s location they had to endure yet again another fucked up game made by a perverse witch; ALl he wanted, all he truly wanted now was to take Shiro to safety, take his friends out of this maniacal place and forget about anything supernatural for the rest of his life, no matter the fact Lance and Pidge were supernatural themselves. 

“I can’t calm down! Those pieces of shit are toying with us, back and forth and I’m not supposed to say anything?!”

“You can get killed if you don’t watch what you say!” Lance yelled back, looking like he was going to murder Keith himself if another word was uttered. “Do you really think I don’t want to curse and spit on their face for what they are doing to us?! They aren’t even following Fae Rules of Courtesy, do you know how stressful it is for me not to just curb stomp them into the sun?!” 

“You talk about curb stomp quite a lot for someone who doesn’t even like to get his nails dirty.” He answered back, receiving an angry snarl from Lance which was pretty disturbing, hearing a horse noise from a very human mouth.

“Hey, shut up.” Pidge snapped, making the two of them look at her in a state of semi-offence. They were far too accustomed to her language to even be fazed when she separated the two of them from their recurrent headbutting. “No ones been paying attention to us.” She added, pointing to the rows of screaming beings, all more twisted and nasty looking, purple seeming to be the general theme for them.

True to her words, despite them nearly yelling at each other and flailing wildly in the middle of the staircase, no one had once threw a glance towards them or made any move to make them stop talking and disturbing their enjoyment. He was kind of grateful for that because they were all either taller than him, bigger or covered in weapons and gnarly spikes. 

“I believe this is only a simple Veil.” Allura chimed in, hands hovering at the limit between stairs and bleachers. “Enough to keep people leaving or joining out of focus of people’s attention, so there won’t be any dangers for us. No one will see us when we continue walking down.”

“We’re still going down?!” Lance whined, climbing back on Coran nonetheless. 

“We’re halfway, surprisingly.” Hunk remarked, counting the stairs upwards and downwards from where they were stopped. “Whatever that test with the black shadows was, while it felt very long and exhausting it didn’t amount to a lot in [real term].”

“I seriously hate those fake spaces.” Keith grumbled, looking downwards. “It just makes us believe we’re making progress and then crushes our spirit.”

“Be mad all you want but we need to get moving.” Lance urged him, slapping Coran’s shoulder for good measure. “I can’t get a clear look at what’s going on in the orchestra.”

“What?” Was Hunk’s only answer to that. 

“The ring! The middle! Where the ‘fun’ stuff is happening; get it together, Hunk!”

“Hold yourself, Lance.” Pidge grumbled, looking like she was getting tired of the stairs herself. “Shiro’s the theater nerd, not you.”

“He’s also a history nerd.” Keith completed, keeping an eye on the cheering mass, a writhing cacophonie. 

No one bothered them as they walked down the remaining stairs and were offered the view of the center stage of the theater, the spectacle holding the crowd’s attention like the centerpiece jewel of a royal crown. It raptured Keith’s breath, swept all thoughts off his minds when he was finally able to see the scene below and made rage churn in his guts; flamboyant and toxic, his murderous thoughts were barely kept in check by Pidge clinging to his arm, holding him down. 

Throwing a quick glance to the side, he could see he wasn’t the only one who was more than irked by the event happening: Hunk was pale as a ghost again, his knuckles white from tightening his fists, Pidge was gritting her teeth, the sound making Keith’s skin crawl a bit and Lance’s face was expressionless, void of anything apart from the glint of pure blue illuminating his darkened face. 

Because down into the orchestra, onto the blood covered sand was Shiro, fighting against a fae twice his size and looking like he was barely holding on. He was bloodied, battered and was using a strange gauntlet from which protruded a sickly purple blade to block and [deviate] the other’s attacks. It seemed like a struggle as he was pushed back by the sheer strength of the assaillant, bearing it with gritted teeth and steel in his eyes. 

“Shiro!” He heard himself shout, going against the [rambarde] to get a better view and get closer to his brother yet unable to will his body to actually climb it to jump down on the sand. Like a claw keeping him in place, all he could do was look at Shiro and scream encouragements from his higher position, fear clamping down on him as the Fae Shiro was fighting managed to send him flying backwards with a powerful kick. 

Lance was just beside him, shaking with fury and the need to also go to Shiro, hair frizzling as if run through with static and eyes on the verge of feral; Keith had teased him a lot about his crush on Shiro - and rightfully teased Shiro back for his crush on Lance - but it was the first time he realized that it wasn’t just merely a crush for the Kelpie. That, however old he was, how many people he had flirted with or ate, Shiro was the one who shook him to the core. 

Call Keith stunted in anything romantic or that involved people but once he knew someone, he could tell if they were genuine or not. Sure, he could have never imagined that Pidge was a ghost or that Lance was a Fae far older than he looked but emotions were tell tale in those cases. 

And Shiro rightfully liked him back. Shiro, who was currently fighting for his life while they were all unable to do anything to help him, unable to protect him as he barely managed to avoid the attacks, barely managed to strike back and win some ground before being sent back again. A tiring dance that wasn’t advantaging Shiro at all. 

“Kick his ass, babe!”

Lance was screaming. Pidge was screaming, Hunk was yelling. Their voices mixed in a chahut of encouragement for their friends as Allura and Coran waited by their sides, tense and unsure about what to do but supporting in spirit. 

The stress was eating at Keith; being powerless sucked. Being unable to help sucked; Only being able to cheer from the side felt like torture. His mind was buzzing and twirling, barely able to pay attention to what his brother was doing, fighting for his life. A parry here, a counter-attack there and a dodge at the end. 

It seemed like Shiro was more and more at the disadvantage, always fleeing back and avoiding powerful attacks that would have crushed him on the spot. He wasn’t losing ground per say but he wasn’t gaining any either. A stalemate that was clearly frustrating for everyone to see from what he could gather from the shouts of the other spectators. He didn’t care about them, couldn’t accept their frustration at the lack of blood, at the lack of death. All he could do was to cheer on Shiro and hope he survives. 

“Why doesn’t he go to the offensive?” Pidge asked, voice hoarse from yelling. “He’s only avoiding and running away.”

“The attacks he makes when that dude is coming too close aren’t enough to really do any damage.” Allura imputed, eyes set on the event down from them. “If this fight continues like that, he’ll be exhausted and an easy prey.”

“No, that’s not it.” Lance said, voice soft and hardly heard above all the noise around. Keith shot a look at him and knew that they were both thinking the same thing. For someone like Shiro, for someone who was as physically fit and loved to do a morning run at 6am every day, who was an enthusiast of physical sports, simply exhausting himself by running away wouldn’t be his goal. But to exert the enemy, by having him constantly on the offensive and running after him would be the most logical thing to do, especially against someone twice his size. 

“He doesn’t look panicked, which means that’s his goal all along.” Keith grinned, leaning forward as much as he was allowed to keep an eyes on Shiro sauntering away. With his minimal movement and light feet, he was slowly but surely winning a war of attrition.

The moment happened when the fae took a moment too long to breath and get back to attack Shiro, leaving him with the perfect opening to start striking instead, started to overwhelm his opponent with short ranged attacks that left him unable to properly defend himself as Shiro swung his blade, wounding him left and right, sending blood flying. It was near black and goopy, disturbing to see. 

The fae had let go of his massive weapon, trying to get back at Shiro by fighting back but his size was now a detriment to him as Shiro was more nimble, able to roll under him and attack his back, slashing his calves open and sending him on his knees. His roar resonated in the scream of the crowd, coursing through Keith’s body. He couldn’t hear himself shout but his throat was raw and there was rage in his veins, to the boiling point and making him yearn for blood. For what had happened to him and his friends, for what was happening to Shiro, this wasn’t enough. He wanted to be the one to wield the blade, to strike the fae and make him regret to have ever touched his brother. 

Yet all he could do was look at Shiro as the fae fell on the ground, unmoving. Look as Shiro seemed taken aback from it, taking a few steps back. There was blood everywhere on the sand, red mixing with goopy black. There was blood all over Shiro, all over his face. 

The crowd was irate, taken by the scent of blood, by the scent of death and applauding the victor with a soundwave that made Keith’s teeth vibrate and his ears whistle for a moment. Yet, despite feeling the guilt of Shiro’s self-defense act, Keith felt relieve his brother was alive, that it was all over now. 

There is a short moment of respite as they start to turn their head to find the way down to get back to Shiro when time crawled to a stop, making their movements horrendously slow as the ground, the place started to shift like the page of a book turning, the whole theater folding itself in the middle, the rows of benches going vertical to then meet with the other side, folding in on itself and Keith was stuck in place, looking at the sky, at the mass of stone coming towards his head and -

He passes through it. He didn’t feel himself move, still stuck immobile but the place had shifted like a pop-up illustrations in a children's book. It was happening far too quickly for him to fully realizes it as he previously was standing in a roofless roman theater, going deep inside of the ground and now his eyes were hurting because of the intense light coming from a delicately ornate chandelier hanging from a high ceiling; chalk white columns were decorating the space, holding the gemstone covered ceiling. A deep purple carpet was leading to a canopy of the same color under which was sitting the most menacing looking fae Keith ever saw tonight. 

From the short distance between them, Keith couldn’t quite see the details on the obsidian colored armor but even though it was showing scrapes and was dull in certain places, it looked sturdy enough to withstand any attacks coming its way. The Fae inside the armor was calmly looking at them, cheek resting on his fist as snake like eyes were silently dissecting them, cold and unforgiving. Even his facial features were snake like with his small, non-existent nose and clammy skin. 

“Shiro!” Lance’s voice was soft but strong, forcing Keith’s head to turn away from the armored fae and look at his friend, who was kneeling near a bloody Shiro, whose face was still gushing out blood from a wound over his nose. He tried to make a move to go to his brother but his feet felt like glued on the floor, his knees locking him up in place as he constated it was also the case for Hunk and Pidge.

“I’m fine.” Was Shiro’s answer to Lance as the Kelpie was using the sleeve of his jacket to wipe most of the blood off Shiro’s face. 

“Cσɳɠɾαƚυʅαƚισɳʂ ϝ'ɾ ԃҽϝҽαƚιɳɠ Mιȥαx. I ԃҽƈʅαɾҽ ƚԋҽҽ ƚԋҽ ɳҽɯ ƈԋαɱρισɳ αɳԃ ԋ'ɾҽႦყ ʂƚαƚҽ ƚԋყ ƚɾιαʅ αʂ σʋ'ɾ; ƚԋσυ αɾƚ ϝɾҽҽ ƚσ ʂҽαɾƈԋҽƚԋ ϝ'ɾ ƚԋҽ ҽxιƚ αʂ ɳαყ σɳҽ ʂԋαʅʅ ʂƚαɳԃ ԋσ ƚԋҽҽ ϝɾσɱ ʅҽαʋιɳɠ ɱιɳҽ σɯɳ ƈσυɾƚ.”

The voice was deep and rumbling, sounding like it came straight out of a deep, black well or a dark cave. It was strong enough to carry straight to them but there was also an undercurrent of falseness laced in it, making Keith unsure whether or not he was genuine. 

“Aʂ ϝ'ɾ συɾ σƚԋ'ɾ ɠυҽʂƚʂ, ƚԋყ ƚɾιαʅ ιʂ αɯαιƚιɳɠ. Pɾιƚԋҽҽ ɱҽ αɳԃ ƚԋҽҽ ʂԋαʅʅ αʅʅ Ⴆҽҽʂƚ αႦʅҽ ƚσ ɾҽƈҽιʋҽƚԋ συƚ, υɳʅҽʂʂ ƚԋҽҽ ɯιʂԋҽƚԋ ϝ'ɾ ρσɯ'ɾ αɳԃ ϝ'ɾƚυɳҽ ιɳ ɯԋιƈԋ ƈαʂҽ ι ɯσυʅԃʂƚ ϝαιɳ ƚαƙҽƚԋ ƚԋҽҽ ιɳ ɱιɳҽ σɯɳ ƈσυɾƚ αʂ ʅιҽɠҽ.”

Keith looked at his friends to see their reaction, not at all surprised to see the quasi disgusted expression on their face at the offer; who in their right mind would agree to be part of such a horrible place? A place where you are chased by bloodthirsty dogs, where trees wants to kill you and where you would be sure to finish under the blade of a fae in a roman theater reproduction. 

“No thank you.” Pidge was the first to talk, voicing their thoughts pretty well even if Keith would have definitely said it less politely.

“I think I’ll pass too.” Hunk added, looking like he was on the verge of vomiting. “That place is not good for my heart.” 

“We want to pass our trials and get out.” Was all Keith said, crossing his arms and trying his best to stare down the Fae from his position. 

The fae’s eyes went cold at his insolent tone and as he leaned back in his throne, the air around them became icy, crackling with angry sparks. Keith went taunt at the visible threat and couldn’t quite calm down even after the magic around him lessened slightly. His attention was drifting away to the other side of their group where Lance was still kneeling with Shiro

“Lαҽƙʅҽʂ, ʂσɳ σϝ Mαʋ'ɾɳα ƚԋყ ƚɾιαʅ ιʂ αʂ ϝσʅʅσɯҽƚԋ: ʂɱαɾƚʂ αɳԃ ʂƚɾҽɳɠƚԋ ιʂ ɯԋαƚ ι αԃɱιɾҽƚԋ ιɳ ɱιɳҽ σɯɳ ρҽσρʅҽ. Pɾσʋҽƚԋ ƚԋσυ αɾƚ Ⴆҽƚƚ'ɾ ƚԋαɳ ɱιɳҽ σɯɳ ɱσʂƚ ɯσɳԃɾσυʂ ƚαɱ'ɾ αɳԃ ʂԋαƙҽƚԋ ƚԋσʂҽ ϝσʅƙ σϝϝ ƚԋყ Ⴆαƈƙҽƚԋ. Iϝ 'ƚ Ⴆҽ ƚɾυҽ ƚԋҽҽ ԃσƚԋ, ƚԋҽҽ ʂԋαʅʅ ԋαʂ'ƚ ԃιԃ ƈσɱρʅҽƚҽ ƚԋყ ƚɾιαʅ αɳԃ Ⴆҽҽʂƚ ԃιԃ αʅʅσɯ ƚσ ɾҽƈҽιʋҽƚԋ συƚ σϝ ƚԋҽ ƈσυɾƚ. Iϝ 'ƚ Ⴆҽ ƚɾυҽ ƚԋҽҽ ɾҽƈҽιʋҽƚԋ ԃҽϝҽαƚҽԃ, ι ʂԋαʅʅ ɯҽʅƈσɱҽƚԋ ƚԋҽҽ αʂ ɳҽɯ ɱҽɱႦ'ɾ αɳԃ ƚԋҽҽ ʂԋαʅʅ ԋσʅιԃαɱ σႦҽԃιҽɳƈҽ ƚσ ɱҽ.” 

Lance tensed up, hands balling up on Shiro’s tattered and bloody shirt, visibly trying to hold himself down and not attack the armored fae, conflicted between leaving Shiro’s side and decking that asshole right in the face. Keith would gladly give him a hand with that if he could just _move_.

“Lance?” He could barely hear Shiro whisper to his friend, confusion clear on his face. “Why is he calling you Laekles? And isn’t your mother called Maria?”

“I’ll explain later, promise.” Lance whispered back, voice sounding more like a growl than anything. 

“Tԋ'ɾҽ ιʂ α ʅσƚ σϝ ϝʅιҽʂ Ⴆυȥȥιɳɠ 'ɾσυɳԃ. P'ɾԋαρʂ αɾƚ ƚԋσʂҽ ɠҽɳƚʂ ԃιԃ αƚƚɾαƈƚ ƚσ ƚԋყ ιɱρ'ɾƚιɳҽɳƈҽ?”

The armored Fae said, tilting his head slightly to the side, eyes roaming the place. as if to search for what could have disturbed him so. Could he not hear them if they talked with low voices? That was interesting to know. 

“Well, that must have been me.” Hunk said, rising his hand for everyone to see. He didn’t seem that apologetic though and with the look on his face, it was clear he had reached the same conclusion as Keith. “I have a really weak stomach and all the thing that happened to us to that point wasn’t quite something I could handle.”

“I’m ready for my trial.” Lance exclaimed, butting in before anything could happen to Hunk. “But first, pray tell, may we learn the name of the being that is yourself?”

“Fҽαʂƚ ƚԋყ ҽαɾʂ αɳԃ ƚɾҽɱႦʅҽƚԋ ԋҽαɾιɳɠ ɱιɳҽ σɯɳ ɳαɱҽƚԋ; ι αɱ ȥαɾƙσɳ σϝ ԃαιႦαȥααʅ, ʅ'ɾԃ σϝ ƚԋҽ ɠαʅɾα ƈσυɾƚ, ʂʅαყҽƚԋ'ɾ σϝ Aʅƚҽαɳʂ αɳԃ ƈσɳϙυ'ɾ'ɾ σϝ αʅʅ ყσɳԃ ιʂ Ⴆҽʅσɯ.”

Chills made their way down Keith’s spin hearing such a terrible voice acclaming himself; Allura and Coran were Alteans so if Zarkon presented himself to them just like he did now then Keith felt horrible as Allura had to face the one who had massacred her people. And knowing this, that he had her trapped in his Court while he was shedding blood without her knowledge. Keith doubted the Altean that defected Allura’s side had been oblivious to Zarkon’s scheme; a double-cross that most definitely had left some heavy scars in her heart.

“Aɳσɳ αʅʅσɯҽƚԋ'ʂ ʂƚαɳԃ ԋσ ʅσʂιɳɠ ƚιɱҽƚԋ αɳԃ ɱσʋҽƚԋ σɳ ɯιƚԋ ƚԋҽ ƚɾιαʅʂ, ʂԋαʅƚ ɯҽ? ι αʂʂυɱҽ ƚԋҽҽ ɯαɳƚҽƚԋ ɳσƚ ƚσ ɯαʂƚҽƚԋ αɳყɱ'ɾҽ σϝ ƚ”

Zarkon snapped his fingers and the room shifted again, rotating in on itself like a merry go round to finally stop on the sight of another sandy arena, surrounded with benches and a high top canopy, providing shade to the entire place under what seemed like a relentless sun. How bizarre as the place had previously been under a heavily cloudy night; to be able to change the time of day so easily, truly, it was a powerful magic.

“A hippodrome?” Shiro’s voice sounded to his right, a clear difference to his previous position. Turning around, Keith could see him sitting himself with care on the bench behind him, eyes strained with pain and curiosity. The wound on his face had seemed to stop seeping blood for the time being, which was a relief in on itself. His other wounds didn’t seem that severe either and the strange gauntlet was attached to his hip by some sort of contraption. 

Turning his head to the other side, he could see Pidge talking lowly to Hunk, who was bent forward and sickly looking. The sudden shift to this place must not had been kind to his weak stomach. Yet he couldn’t see Lance anywhere, which didn’t appease him in any way. 

“Tσ ɱιɳҽ σɯɳ ҽʂƚҽҽɱ'ԃ ɠυҽʂƚʂ, ƚԋҽ ƚɾιαʅ σϝ ʅαҽƙʅҽʂ ʂσɳ σϝ ɱαɾʋ'ɾɳα ʂԋαʅʅ Ⴆҽɠιɳɳҽƚԋ. Hιʂ σρρσɳҽɳƚ ʂԋαʅʅ Ⴆҽҽʂƚ ƚɾυɠɠ, ԃαυɠԋƚ'ɾ σϝ ιʅԃαɾα. Tԋҽ ɾυʅҽʂ αɾƚ ʂιɱρʅҽ: ƚɾυɠɠ ιʂ ƚσ ɾҽɱαιɳҽƚԋ υɳɯαʋ'ɾ'ԃ σɳ ʅαҽƙʅҽʂ' Ⴆαƈƙҽƚԋ αʂ ƚԋαƚ ɠҽɳƚ ƚɾιҽʂ ƚσ ʂԋαƙҽƚԋ ԋ'ɾ σϝϝ. Nαყ ƚιɱҽƚԋ ʅιɱιƚ. Aɳყ ɱҽαɳʂ ƚσ ɾҽƈҽιʋҽƚԋ ƚɾυɠɠ σϝϝ ιʂ ԃιԃ αʅʅσɯ. Nαყ ɯҽαρσɳʂ, ɳαყ αႦιʅιƚιҽʂ. Uɳƚιʅ ƚԋҽҽ ყҽʅԃ 'ɾ ƚԋҽ ʅαԃყ ιʂ σϝϝ ƚԋყ Ⴆαƈƙҽƚԋ, ƚԋҽ ƚɾιαʅ ʂԋαʅʅ ƈσɳƚιɳυҽƚԋ.” 

The ground inside the sandy shifted as two openings began to reveal itself apart from each other; a dozen meters or so, with inside what appeared to be elevator who brought forth the two opponent for this duel: on one side the large shape of Lance’s kelpie form, with his lustrous fur and graceful silhouette and on the other side the smaller silhouette of a female fae, sporting a riding gear and what looked like spiked heels on her boots. Keith’s blood turned hot at the sight, wanting to yell at Zarkon about them and denounce Trugg but Pidge had seen it too.

“Spurs are not a weapon. To think of hurting him by staying by the rules is clever.” She growled, nipping at her thumb, still overseeing Hunk was was sitting with his head against his knees. 

“Wait, so that’s Lance?” Shiro asked, looking frazzled by their friend’s animal appearance. “Did they use magic on him to make him look like a horse?”

“Lance’s a kelpie.” Hunk answered, voice wavering but still strong. “Don’t worry, we just learned that today as well, he’s been keeping it from us, the fiend.”

“Not from me.” Pidge whistled, earning herself an elbow to the side for that comment.

“That’s because you were friends with him for longer than us, Pidge.” Hunk retorted, lifting his head, already looking better just by squabbling with her. “Also, you’re dead, so you have nothing to say about it because you were also hiding something from us.” 

“Excuse me, what?” The disbelief in Shiro’s voice was kind of amusing, mirroring their own prior to that point. “But… Isn’t Matt your Big brother?! And you had baby pictures with him and all!”

“All fake. I’m his great-great-great-something aunt. But since I want to be inconspicuous, it’s easier to pretend I’m part of the family, a little sister. Mom and Dad treat me no differently from him although it must be because Fae blood runs in our family for a while. It kinda became a tradition to keep me around.”

“Well that’s not the most fucked up thing to hear today.” Was all Shiro could choke up, rubbing his hands over his face, careful of his wounds. “I think I became desensitized so I’ll probably be freaking out later.”

“Nah, that’s understandable. Keith will probably join you in the comatose ward afterwards.” Pidge snarked.

“But not me?” Hunk asked, before being shushed by her as in the pit the two silhouettes had began to move, walking towards one another in unison. Lance’s walk seemed nervous but that Trugg’s one was full of confidence. From the look of it, from her confident stride and the way she moved herself, she considered herself the winner already. What a cocky bitch.

They stopped in front of each other and bowed, Trugg’s being barely noticeable while Lance’s was obviously a nervous one before Trugg placed herself on his side and jumped on his back with the grace of someone who has done it millions of time, talent and confidence exuding from that simple act. Lance’s muscles tensed as he started to walk in a circle, perhaps to get accustomed to her weight and how she was shifting on her back from that simple examination.

Keith held his breath as Lance’s pace became faster and he suddenly started bucking, putting all his strength into shaking the Fae off his back, changing the rhythm of it to fend her off with no avail. Trugg was clinging to him, hands firmly coiled around his mane and thighs unwavering from where they clung to Lance’s waist. She didn’t even seemed panicked at his attempts and the slow smile creeping on her face was making Keith afraid. Afraid that she’ll win, afraid that Lance will have to be forced away from them, afraid of what it might do to his psyche. 

If he felt a simmering anger in his core, the fire he felt by his side was far hotter and nastier than anything; with a simple glance, he could see that Shiro was the angriest he had seen him in a long, long time. Although he didn’t quite remember just _when_ he had been that angry, Keith knew that never bode well for whomever was to be confronted to Shiro’s ire. 

Looking back at Lance, Keith felt his guts tighten after seeing him get back to his hooves after a roll, only to see Trugg still firmly attached to him despite his best efforts. She had her hands on his reins, making his head lean backwards almost uncomfortably. A shiny sheen of sweat on his body showed them how hard he had been trying to get her off, to win this trial but she was like glued to him, her smile wide and crazed; so assured of her victory. 

The tipping point was when, after a vicious back kick from Lance and Trugg’s smile dimming a bit, she slammed her heels backward, the spurs stabbing Lance right above his hind legs, drawing blood from it. Dropplets fell on the sand as he neighed in pain and fury, his actions increasing in strength and desperation and losing it’s calculated thinking. It was as if the exhaustion mixed with the sadistic sting of the spurs made him lose all concentration and logical thinking. 

His movements were shaky, uncoordinated and just when Keith was thinking that maybe they should do something about it, he saw from the corner of his eyes Shiro jumping from his seat and onto the sand below, rolling as his feet barely touched the ground and running towards Lance. Neither Lance nor Trugg had seemed to have seen him move, nobody else acted in the fraction of seconds it had taken Shiro to do that. Keith didn’t know if they _could_ do anything at all.

The pool of blood under Lance was becoming larger as Trugg was incessantly stabbing his sides with her spurs and Keith was quick to follow Shiro down, [recepting] himself harshly on the ground and groaning as his legs and shoulder hurt from the roll. He wasn’t as fast as his brother so by the time he got halfway towards them and Lance reared, his forelegs kicking wildly in the air as he tried to get the angle to get Trugg off his back. 

There was a short moment where Keith’s heart stopped beating from the fear of Lance either dropping backward and hurting himself to badly to continue to struggle or have him abandon anyway after his last ditch effort but then Shiro threw himself at Trugg, hitting her with a leaping clothesline and making them both roll on the floor, kicking up a dusty storm as Trugg was trying to claw Shiro’s face and he barely managed to get away from her, the sand making his hair pale and giving him a ghastly appearance. 

“Thy majesty! I didst not loseth! Using such treach'ry is shameful! Alloweth me tryeth once m're!” Trugg yelled from where she was now crouching on the ground, looking up at the part of the arena who was straight, cutting the oval shape of it on a u form. Indeed, there was Zarkon, looking at them but making no other move, observing them as if they were but mere insects. 

“No weapon. No abilities. That’s what he said before the trial, didn’t he?” Shiro growled, looking a hair wides to strangle her. “He never said anything about Lance getting help.”

Trugg snarled, showing her fangs as her nails grew thin and long, razor sharp.

“I shall not accepteth such affront! I hest a rematch-” 

It happened in a fraction of seconds, with such fluidity and [ferocity] it rendered Keith speechless; One moment Trugg was attempting to get back on her feet and the next her head exploded outward, splitting open with the crunwhy, wet sound of a rip watermelon hitting the asphalt. A mesh of blood, bones and gray matter spraying the sand behind her body, creating a gory arabesque as the rest of her fell to the side, blood gushing like a fountain from what was left of her skull - a bottom jaw, the tongue lolling out like a festering worm and a few strand of hair. 

He could have wondered for a while of what exactly happened it it weren’t for the swift movement of air rushing to his face, reeking of sweat and blood, of wet fur; Lance had struck his enemy in a fatale attack, his hind leg muscles powerful enough to break stone. Keith would have felt relieved to have Trugg die either way but the brutal and disgusting way to do it combined with Lance still being frantic and wildly kicking a few feet from him was too much of a shock. He only got to escape getting a hoove in the chest by Shiro dragging him backward and away from the crazed form of Lance and the still warm body. 

Keith couldn’t understand how Shiro could be this calm after what just happened. After the fact Lance had made someone’s head explode just like that. God he didn’t feel well. 

Turning to the side, Keith fought against his body and nearly avoided vomiting, his body wracked with violent coughs as his eyes teared up from the strain on his body. Shiro was not at his side anymore he realized after a short moment and panic began to settle in in him; he turned his head quickly, earning himself a very harsh vertigo from it.

Shiro was walking slowly towards a very agitated Lance, all hooves out and determined to stomp anything even merely threatening. There was soft, kissy noises coming from Shiro, who seemed relax, at ease. Clearly an act but enough to give Lance enough hesitation so Shiro could grab the reins tightly right under Lance’s chin, forcing his head to be immobile and his body to follow suit. It was done with such practiced ease it was kind of hard to imagine it was technically Shiro’s first time calming a wounded, panicked horse. 

“Shhh, hey, I’m here Lance. It’s ok. It’s over.” Shiro murmured , bringing one of his hand to gently caress his nose, his sweaty neck and mane. Lance snorted violently and neighed with a plaintive tone, trying to get out of Shiro’s grip but it was as if made of steel. 

“Hey, now. Calm down, Lance. It’s me, Shiro. It’s ok. She’s dead. She won’t be able to hurt you anymore. You won!” Shiro’s voice was so soft and full of pride, Keith felt kinda weird to be at hearing distance; it was a moment between them and he was the third wheel. 

“You helped me during my fight too, remember? I was beginning to feel helpless, not knowing where any one of you were as I was stuck fighting to hold on for my life. And then I heard you; I heard you loud and clear against the white noise that had become the spectators cheering. I heard you like a ray of hope illuminating my way to victory. And now I want you to hear me too, alright babe? I want you to walk the same hopeful path as me. You won, you cheeky twunk. And I couldn’t be more proud of you.” He said, holding Lance’s head in his hands and placing soft kisses against the soft fur of his forehead, making Lance close his eyes as he relaxed from Shiro’s pampering. 

The scene was abruptly interrupted as the world began to segment and shift like those old school blinds, making his head reel from the pure shock of it happening right in front of his eyes as he found himself back at the throne room, dusty but whole with his friends by his sides again. 

A strangled noise to his left made him turn his head and hold back his laugh as Shiro was awkwardly holding a very human Lance’s face in his hand and by how red they both were, they didn’t realize they would be in this position afterwards. They distanced themselves from a few feet but still at reasonable distance, embarrassment clear on their face mixed with something else that nearly made Keith smile. From what he had heard, that had sounded like a pretty legit declaration and neither Shiro or Lance were denying it, seeing as they were still holding each other’s hands by the tip of their fingers. 

Blood was seeping through Lance’s shirt, coloring the blue in deep magenta. 

“Cσɳɠɾαƚυʅαƚισɳʂ ϝ'ɾ ԃҽϝҽαƚιɳɠ Tɾυɠɠ. I ԃҽƈʅαɾҽ ƚԋყ ƚɾιαʅ αʂ σʋ'ɾ; ƚԋσυ αɾƚ ϝɾҽҽ ƚσ ʂҽαƈԋҽƚԋ ϝ'ɾ ƚԋҽ ҽxιƚ αʂ ɳαყ σɳҽ ʂԋαʅʅ ʂʅαɳԃ ԋσ ƚԋҽҽ ϝɾσɱ ʅҽαʋιɳɠ ɱιɳҽ σɯɳ ƈσυɾƚ.”

Keith frowned at that. This was nearly sentence for sentence the exact same thing Zarkon told Shiro, minus the bit about being the new Champion. That was odd, just like the minimal movement and lack of expression on his face; but perhaps it was just how he was, being a very old fae and all. It just didn’t quite sit well with him. 

“Kҽιƚԋ, ʂσɳ σϝ Kɾσʅια, ƚԋყ ƚɾιαʅ ιʂ αʂ ϝσʅʅσɯҽƚԋ: ʂƚɾҽɳɠƚԋ σϝ ԋҽαɾƚ ιʂ αʂ ιɱρ'ɾƚαɳƚ αʂ ʂƚɾҽɳɠƚԋ σϝ ƈσɾʂҽ. Sƚҽҽʅ ყσυɾʂҽʅϝ ϝɾσɱ ƚԋҽ ԋαɾʂԋ ɾҽαʅιƚყ αɳԃ ρɾσʋҽƚԋ ყσɳԃ συɾ ɱιɳԃ ιʂ αʂ ʂσʅιԃ αʂ Lυxιƚҽ.”

There is no way for Keith to say anything against it even if he doesn’t understand what it really consists in, the phrasing making him nervous all of a sudden. He had no choice but to do it, so he closed his eyes to keep from getting sick for when the place changed again. 

It was dark behind his eyelids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Succeed or lose yourself, it's the rule of the trials.


	4. A Normal Life.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith's trial.  
> There is something not quite right in how things fits together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays, have some more suffering.

The insistent beeping of his alarm clock is what wakes him up, drilling its shrill tone inside of his eardrums. He groans and tries to [stifle] it by putting his pillow over his ears but the setting is far too loud for it to work; a gift from Shiro’s parents when he first came to their house as they discovered his inability to wake up properly if not given a real motivation. There was no point in trying to get back to sleep anymore, not with the sound of it and the noise coming from outside of the door as well; since he generally put his alarm at ten minutes after everyone else’s, it was usual to hear the domestic noises in the rest of the house. 

Sighing, he put away his covers and pillow before crossing the room to turn off his alarm. The sun was shining through the closed blinds and he made quick work to open them, preferring not to be in a dark and cozy environment if it meant lulling him back to sleep. 

His room wasn’t very large but enough to fit a small double bed, a desk for his computer and a wardrobe. There were even some boxes here and there to hold most of his stuff and some hanging shelves for his books; truly a nice place for him to relax and forget about the hassle of college.

“Keith, stop sleeping and come eat breakfast.” Shiro’s voice sounded behind the door after a harsh knock. “Mom and Dad are already done and will be going to work soon.”

“I’m coming.” Keith replied, understanding the implicit demand to go tell them goodbye. Shiro’s footsteps echoed to the bathroom on the other side of the hallway and Keith quickly put on pants and slippers, not wanting to get barefoot on tiles again. 

Walking down the stairs, he could see that the door was already open and his foster parents talking softly to one another and getting their outfit free of creases. They always acted so softly towards each other and their kids, it was always great to be able to bask in it. 

“Ah, Keith. Good morning. Sorry to be going out so soon but there are problems at work and they need me quick.” his mom said before straightening his dad’s tie. “And mister here is late.” 

“Again?” Keith asked, finishing to walk down the stairs so he could kiss them goodbye. 

“I can’t help it. I really like saying goodbye to _everyone before I go.”_

_“Is this a jab at me because I wake up later than you?” Keith sighed, hiding his smile as he pretended to be vexed._

_“No, not at all. Well, I’ll see you later, kiddo. My boss won’t tolerate my lateness anymore if I pull too much on the cord.” His father said, [ébourrifant] his hair before walking out of the door. Keith laughed at that before kissing his mother goodbye and walking past them to get to the kitchen. Really, he loved mornings like that._

_“ _How long do we still have to pretend, jesus._ ” _

_Keith turned his head, nearly earning himself a whiplash to see who just said that but the door had just closed behind his parents, their silhouette distorted by the glass on it. He didn’t know why any of them would say that. Didn’t know if they really did say that; maybe he just misheard them? Maybe he was still dreaming? He had been having a really disturbing dream after all, it could be just that. He couldn’t fathom anyone of this house saying such thing. Towards him especially._

_“Keith? You’ve been spacing out for a good minute; is everything ok?”_

_Keith jumped at Shiro’s voice and sighed a little, smiling. This probably was just a bout of paranoia coming back to haunt him, that’s all. It had been a while since it happened so it had definitely took him by surprise but this time he’d be vigilant not to get caught in that spiral again._

_“Yeah, sorry about that. I got stuck thinking, that’s all.” He answered, earning himself a doubtful [regard] from Shiro._

_“If you say so. Now go eat something and get prepared, we’re going to be late to meet the others.”_

_“What is it we do today, again?” He asked, his memory a bit foggy about it._

_“Come on, Keith.” Shiro snapped lightly, looking unamused. “The old museum in Creswell, Oregon? You’re the one who suggested it, didn’t you?”_

_It didn’t ring any bell for Keith but he also couldn’t say so to Shiro; The bout of paranoia from earlier were coming back little by little, making him doubt himself, doubt his brother. But he shouldn’t be. Maybe he didn’t remember because he hadn’t woken up enough? Yeah, that was probably that._

_“The.. the one with the rumored headless ghost roaming the hallways…” He said, surprising himself as his mouth moved by itself._

_“Yeah. Now come on, we need to be in the car at 9:30 sharp.” Shiro sighed, squeezing Keith’s shoulder before going back upstairs, probably to finish preparing their bags._

_Keith was shaking a little bit from the tone of Shiro’s but decided to disregard it. Shiro could be a little tense from time to time, especially right before a case. Or rather, for some time now, because he’d be near Lance. Fools in love really are easy to read even if that meant being a nervous break to prepare their nerves._

_He blinks and the continuous thrumming of the car is skillfully luling him back to sleep. He doesn't quite remember when he got in the car to begin with but Shiro is the one driving, singing under his breath to the tune of a random pop song from the radio. The sun is blaring through the windshield._

_He recognized the street they traverse, it's close by the Holt household and where their trusty vans parked. They had collectively decided for Matt (and consequently Pidge) to be the one holding the keys and to have their house be the rendezvous point each time they had to film their next episode._

_"You're drooling." Is all Shiro comments on, irking Keith a bit._

_"Well you reek of sweat." He counter with, finding it easy to exchange jabs with Shiro._

_"No I don't." Is hiz reply, [digne] of a sixth grader. "I don't, right?"_

_"Don't worry. However you smell like, Lance will still like you."_

_Shiro let out a strangled noise as he punched Keith in the shoulder, face slightly red. "God you're insufferable."_

__

__

_Keith's laugh is light as they finally pulled in the Holt's driveway, seeing that Hunk and Lance had already arrived. Pidge's house was smaller than a mansion but still impressive, an heirloom from a grandparent that was kept [updated] with the latest technologies and making it the most comfortable and sound house in their town._

_He took off his seatbelt and was going to get out of the car when Shiro's warm hand on his back stopped him. He had a serious, if a bit worried expression on his face._

_"Look, I understand you might be a little off, a lot nervous and scared, even. And in the end it's your call but I thought I'd give you a little talk."_

_Well if he wasn't nervous before he was, now. His head wasn't quite right since this morning so he didn't really know what this was all about but after taking a deep breath, he relaxed in his seat to listen to Shiro._

_"We've known that was a possibility since we took you in, mom and dad had been warned by the [adoption agency] and you've known about it for nearly as long. It's an opportunity, a chance to set things right, to know the truth. But Keith, as a brother and a friend, I don't think you should go see your biological mom."_

_The concern in Shiro's voice was very touching, making Keith glad to be his brother._

_“Shiro…”_

_“No, listen to me, Keith. She abandoned you when you weren’t even two. She left you and because of that, your father had to take more hours to be able to support the both of you. And when he died, authorities had tried to call her but she didn’t even answer to any calls. She only contacted us to talk about you a few weeks ago, fully knowing you’re an adult, now.”_

_“I know that.” Keith snapped, looking at the car floor. “I… I know. But I need to know why she did that. I won’t forgive her anytime soon but not knowing is as bad, don’t you think?_

_Shiro didn’t answer that, his jaw jumping a little as he was holding himself from saying something; whatever it was, it perturbed him a lot._

_“I’ve suffered a lot because of her but it’s also thanks to that I was able to meet you. I don’t know what my life would have been if she hadn't left and I don’t think I’m strong enough to try and imagine it.”_

_“Any other ways, don’t think about it anymore. Whatever your final decision is, I have nothing to worry about. Because you belong to the Shiroganes.” Shiro said, squeezing Keith’s arm again and unbuckling himself, stepping out of the car before Keith scrambled to follow him._

_“God you suck at pep talks. I’m not a pet, you know?.” He bitched, slamming the door behind himself and stepping close to Shiro, who used the car keys to lock it._

_“Of course, you aren’t.” Is all Shiro answer back, his tone monotone and empty, making shivers run down Keith’s back. God his paranoia was acting up a lot today. That was something he needed to keep an eye on, or else that’d be bad._

_He blinks. The back door of the van closes a bit too violently after his push and he jerked back, surprised to see himself in a different place yet again. He checks his surroundings and finds himself in the parking lot of a small hotel, the rest of his friends chatting idly and gathering the few bags they needed to spend the night in. Hunk and Lance were deep into a conversation and Shiro was slowly guiding a sleepy Pidge towards the entrance._

Smiling, Keith locked the car, surprised to have the keys in hand and assuming he had been the last one to drive for the day. He didn’t know how he had been able to safely drive them until there if his lack of memories were any indicatives but he was reassured that at least he wouldn’t have to do anything else till tomorrow. Pocketing the keys, he took his travel bag to join his friends into the lobby, a bit surprised there weren’t a lot of people inside. A few tourists milling about and busy looking employes was all he could see before Lance began to pull him towards the counter so he could be registered as well. 

_He doesn’t really listen to what the person at the counted is saying, trusting his friends to handle everything for him, preferring to let his gaze wander the lobby as he fought a vicious yawn. Even if they each drove two hours, it still felt like a lot and the concentration needed to be fully aware of his surroundings had been thinned out because of it. His attention was focused on a very energetic man with a very impressive mustache, strangely well coordinated with the bright blue Hawaiian shirt he was sporting. Whatever he was telling the other guests who had made a circle around him, it seemed extremely entertaining and Keith had a thought of joining if it weren’t for Hunk leading him to the elevator to his room._

_It wasn’t strange for them to get separate rooms but he always preferred when they shared one. Despite that, he didn’t complain as he locked the door behind him and shuffled to the bed, the springs making him bounce slightly as he all but fell on it. His shoes were kicked from that position as was his pants, joining them in a heap on the floor. He was way too tired to care about the mess._

_Despite that, he groaned as he realized he had to take a shower before going to sleep and to change into pajamas, going about it as fast as he was able to so he could take his well deserved rest. The water was warm and the soap smelled of honey with an undercurrent of something… unfamiliar. Something he thought he definitely knew the name of but couldn’t pinpoint it anymore, strangely. Deciding to care about it tomorrow, he shuffled inside of the bed sheets, shutting down the light._

_He must have turned for a good hour before deciding that it was useless for him to fall asleep. It wasn’t normal, he was usually dead as a log for the rest of the night but here he was, struggling to even close his eyes. There was something nagging in his mind, something that didn’t sit well with him. Something strange, something poisoned. He didn’t understand how he could reach such a conclusion but he couldn’t find any other words that were close enough to how he felt. It was like when he was in seventh grade, on the stage during the school play with the strong lights above him and the ghostly silhouette of the crowd looking at him, judging him. Yet it couldn’t be that because he was in a hotel room, in the dark and _yet there was that sensation of unease_ making him too keyed up to fall asleep. _

_After a few minutes, Keith decided it was useless to wish for sleep when he felt that restless, that paranoid. Perhaps a short walk in the hallway would help, it was generally working whenever he had his bouts of insomnia._

_The door opened easily, soundlessly as he put on the bathrobe provided by the hotel. It wasn’t warm enough in the hallway to just go about in just his pajama and the fluffy purple bathrobe was just the thing he needed for his walk._

_He didn’t really pay attention to where he was going, walking slowly in the different hallways and taking the stairs to get between floors. Keith was grateful for the silence of the place, not really in the mood to meet anyone even thought he was kind of wishing for one of his friend to accompany him; When he was like that, silent company was always preferable but he couldn’t get himself to wake any of them just for that. He’d have to take a nap in the van tomorrow to compensate._

_His short walk led him to a small lounge area with comfy looking chairs and a small television. The lights were dim, not aggressive to the eyes and the small place was inviting enough that he didn’t resist to take a seat in one of the chair, nearly being swallowed by how plush it was. In other circumstances he wouldn’t have even thought of doing so as he prefered chairs with a certain firmness but with what had been going on in his mind all day, he decided that it wasn’t so bad._

_The softness was inviting and relaxing, making him relax and his brain stop mulling over what happened the whole day. What didn’t happen. God, why was it always so confusing whenever his paranoia acted up?_

_The sound of steps coming to the lounge made Keith raise his head to see who was coming in, a bit surprised to see a proper looking woman take seat in the chair in front of him, concentrated on her phone. - _the strap was so similar to Hunk’s, it was eerie. The shape and color were the exact same too and if he hadn’t seen Hunk pocket his phone before going to his room, he would have assumed she stole it._ -_

_“Have you seen a mouse running around?” She suddenly spoke up, her blue eyes lighting up her face like flares, making her hair looks white - _they we re dark brown, why would he be seeing them as white?__

_“Excuse me?” He asks, confused but fascinated by her glowing eyes. He knew her, he was sure of that but her name was escaping him; he wasn’t even sure _who_ she was but the certainty that she was a friend was making him relax. _

_“A mouse. We were separated and I did my absolute best to reunite us, alas that is the extent of my power.” She sighed, her fingers idly playing with the yellow strap of the phone. The little lion head - _a gift from Lance_ \- was being smoothed over by her thumbs. He wasn’t quite sure if she was talking about the mice at all, her tone tired and cryptic._

_“I’m trying.” He told her, surprising himself for the vague answer as he didn’t quite know what he was talking about._

_“I know you are. This is quite elaborate, if I say so myself. Intricate and powerful. Don’t lose your heart, Keith. And if you see any of the mice, remember to shield your heart. Remember the truth.”_

_“What?” The girl was speaking nonsense to him now, his brain was too sleepy to understand it correctly and when he thought he was going to ask her to clarify, she was already gone. She didn’t even left her chair, didn’t even cross the door. One moment she was sitting in front of him and the next she was gone. As if she was never here to begin with. Only a soft, peaceful blue glow permeated the chair she had used, straining Keith’s senses to really believe it._

_“Keith? Did you have problems going to sleep?” Hunk’s voice made him jump as he turned to see his friend looking at him a bit worried, clad in his pajamas and the same purple wardrobe as well. Keith didn’t really like how that color looked on Hunk, it seemed to make him look sickly._

_“Yeah, I guess I did. What about you?”_

_“No, not really. I just heard you come out of your room so I’ve been searching for you.”_

_“Sorry for worrying you.” Keith smiled at Hunk before going out of the chair, feeling as if the plush was holding him back like he had been glued to it._

_“Just go back to your room and try to sleep.” Hunk sighed, pushing him by the shoulders. “I don’t want you screwing up and putting us in danger again.”_

_Keith’s blood ran cold in his veins at Hunk’s remarks and he jerked his head to look at him but the gaze he was met with was tired but open. Right. Hunk was exhausted too and since he had been coming after him, it was just normal to say something like that. Perhaps a bit mean but definitely not something he was really thinking._

_“Yeah. Thanks Hunk.” He sighed, closing his eyes._

_The furious flare of the sun reverberating on the side mirrors made his eyes sting as Lance was squabbling with Pidge yet again for something he didn’t even know anymore; be it a game, food or blackmail materials, it was far too common between those two to get involved in it._

_Keith frowned when he realized he was back in the van and the sun was high up in the sky, clearly another jump in time from the hotel. Yet this time he remembered going back to sleep and being woken up by Pidge jumping on his and nearly busting his ribs. It had actually been two days since that hotel and the previous night they had slept in a small camping site, a cabin being offered by the owner since his children were fans. A photo group and autographs had been enough and Keith had been subjected to a bit more attention than he had liked, the oldest son of the owner following him around like a puppy in love._

_While it had been sweet to think that someone could be attracted to him despite his harsh personality, that guy wasn’t really his type. Yet he was far too scared to ask Hunk out, even with Pidge trying her hardest to make him to it._

_There wasn’t much to say about those memories yet a nagging feeling was making him queasy. As if something wasn’t quite right. As if the thing he remembered were too blurry or unhinged to fit properly with what he knew what the reality. It should only be the paranoia talking, that was it. Just the paranoia._

_“Ok, everyone calm down and be at your best behavior, we’re closing in our destination.” Shiro called to the others, focused on the drive. “Pidge, clean up your tech mess, I don’t want to hear any complaints if anything is missing or stepped on. Hunk, stop fidgeting with whatever you have in hands, getting electrocuted is not in the program. Lance? Please tell me you have a hoodie. Your “Big Baby Slut” crop top is not something the person we are meeting is going to like. And Keith? Stick close and don’t say anything.”_

_There it was again, that cold, monotone voice that made him on edge. He knew he sometimes made blunders when being near people he didn’t know but that wouldn’t mean he was going to be insulting people left and right. Couldn’t Shiro believe in him a little more? That kind of hurt, being seen as the unruly child of the group, when Lance and Pidge were _right there_._

_Of course, Shiro had his reasons to tell him to not wander off and let his temper loose. The blunder with the owner of an old mansion, Lubos something, had been very shameful for him; he had thought he was shady through and through so he had ended up threatening up with a knife near the end of their filming. That accident had hurt their social standing a little before police investigations had made clear that Lubos whatever had been a traficant and hoped to have an alibi for this specific night while they were filming._

_But truth restored or not, it had left their fans a bit hesitant to reach out to them or other owners to deal with them for the episode that had come next, making it pretty difficult to produce any videos and thus any incomes for their group. They even had to do a Q &A with an apology to set everything right again and he wasn’t allowed to go near anyone like that ever again, unless they attacked first with a visible weapon. Of course, it also meant they had to catch it on camera for it to be viable in court or whatever. Honestly heavy responsibilities. _

_The woman waiting for them in front of the rundown museum was one of the most intimidating person he has ever met in his life; she wasn’t even particularly tall or anything of the sort but the general vibe she gave off was making Keith on edge. It was like she was looking straight at his soul, didn’t appreciate what she was seeing and was mentally sneering at him for it._

_“Hello, you must be Mrs. Honerva Daibazaal?” Shiro asked, extending his hand for a handshake. The woman barely acknowledged the hand, only glanced at it before she turned their back to them to walk inside the museum._

_“At least you’re early.” Was all she commented on, her long white hair kept in a tight braid, reminding him of the girl he saw… wait, when did he saw a girl with white hair again? The memory escaped him and every time he tried to grasp at it, it went further away from him. IIt probably wasn’t that important anyway._

_“We try our best not to cause too much troubles for those who solicits us.” Lance said, voice smooth as honey. “But since you agreed to us filming a video in exchange of an advertisement for your establishment, we wanted to be even more professional.”_

_Keith knew that wasn’t quite all bullshit, because they did take their job seriously but it never always resulted in the people they investigated having a rise in popularity. The last opened public building they did, a manufactory, hadn’t been that pleased in the end as several of their workers had quit after they posted the video. Pidge learned a few weeks later there had been a corporate takeover and old employes that complained about it had been talked into leaving their job._

_“As long as you don’t damage any of the finer pieces and get a concrete explanation for what those phenomenon are happening, I don’t really care.” Honerva answered him, throwing a cold glare from above her shoulder. “I will get someone to give you a tour of the place if you want it. I also expect you to leave at 9pm sharp and come back at 11pm for your filming. Museum opens his doors at 9am, but employees arrives at 8:30am. I want you gone before that.”_

_“Well, that’s more time that we need, thank you.” Shiro said with a smile, perhaps relieved he didn’t have to be close to Honerva and the uncomfortable vibes she emitted. “And I think it will be best if we accept the offer; a guide will know the place better, especially where the paranormal entities had been more active.”_

_“Someone will be here in five.” Was the last thing Horerva said to them before walking off further in the museum, her sharp heels clacking against the tiles like pikes being hammered into someone’s flesh. Someone’s very earthy and hard flesh. Keith didn’t really know why he was suddenly thinking that._

_Following Honerva’s statement, exactly five minutes after she was gone, an employe approached them and began to present the museum, the different wings and where the most strange events had been happening the most; Keith barely listened to all of that, preferring letting his attention on something more interesting like the paintings on the walls; none of them were to his taste - he was more of a fauvism kind of guy and everything was either neoclassicist or rococo._

_A good half an hour into their tour, a small squeak at his feet startled him as he jerked his head to the ground to take a look at what made the noise. To his immense surprise, it was a small mouse, lean and kind of mean looking, with sharp eyes and a long tail. Strangely, its greenish fur color didn’t surprise him as much as seeing a mice in a place with fragile arts. Wouldn’t it nimbles the canvas?_

_“What are you doing here?” He asks it without thinking before cursing himself under his breath. Why was he asking an animal?_

_The mouse squeaked again at him before scurrying off to another hallway, branching off from the one his friends were walking down. He quickly threw a glance towards them to see they didn’t even realize he had stopped, talking between them, Pidge and Hunk pointing to portraits and other paintings they liked. They wouldn’t notice if he went his way for a little while, right? Right…_

_Turning his head towards the other path, he could see that the mouse was waiting for him to catch up. Definitely not the behavior of a normal mice that was for sure. As he walked towards it, the mice began to scuttle ahead of him again, often sending looks backwards to see if Keith was still following. Of course he was. He didn’t quite understand it himself but something about mice was ringing something important into his brain; he couldn’t explain why he felt so anxious yet relieved to be following a green mouse_

_“Where are you leading me?” He asks it again as if still waiting for an answer from it._

_“ **Remember to shield your heart.** ” _

_He barely remembered something like that, from someone he trusted with his and his friends lives but he couldn’t remember who it was. And what was it supposed to say anyway? He wasn’t really great with cryptic things anyway._

_The mouse lead him to a dead end, a beautiful corner like place with a rococo looking bench and an array of sad looking paintings. The only plus this place had was the wide mirror on the wall, reflecting the place as the bench was pressed against it, giving off an illusion of infinite hallway. There was someone sitting on the bench already, a young woman with white hair and kind vibe, looking intensely as three cute - and colorful - mice were doing a sort of circus act for her. The green mice squeaked to the girl before joining its friends in the final part of their act, all three standing on top of the biggest yellow mice in a pyramid. The girl clapped at them and turned towards Keith, inviting him to sit._

_“I’m terribly sorry. This is as much as I can help you.” She sighed, petting a small pink mouse as it jumped in her lap._

_“I remember you.” He says, looking at her like all questions were finally given an answers. “Why couldn’t I before?”_

_“This is all Her doing, Keith. She planned everything and is now going to strike again, one last time.”_

_“Again?”_

_“The previous ones were little jabs, little prods to see what could make you hurt the most. I have no idea what she has in store for you but please, don’t forget this is just her doing.”_

_“I… I don’t remember being hurt in anyways.” He told her, his mind murmuring that no one had been physically ill intentioned against him, that all those uncomfortable moments with his friends were all just a cause of his rampant paranoia._

_“You must be careful.” Allura said against, more pressing, her form losing her glow, her luster as if she was now sitting in the shadows._

_“Against what?”_

_“I cannot tell you. You must realize it yourself or this will have been for naught and you will have to do it all over again.”_

_“You’re no better than Pidge, giving me cryptic answers.” He grumbles, kicking his feet against the tiles. He hears Allura laugh softly at that as the other mice gathered around her._

_“I will take this as a compliment. I quite like that child.” She smiles before a sad expression replaces it. “But I must go. If She finds me here, finds I tempered with Her doing with my abilities then She will be in an ire.”_

_“You’re leaving again.” Keith said flatly, giving her a disappointed glance._

_“Not by choice, once again. I had a lot of difficulties finding where you were sent to and even more hardship being here to help you. Please, be it so it was not in vain, Keith. I believe in you.”_

_She took his hands before joining her own, her warmth seeping into Keith as she suddenly stood up before running away as fast as she could with her long dress and disappearing around the corner. Keith stood as well to follow her, panic settling in his bones as her memories in his mind began to fade away, being shredded from his most recent memory to be thrown away; he only managed a single step before hitting a hard, cold surface and pain flaring up as he took a few steps backward, raising his eyes to be met with his own reflection._

_The girl had been on the other side of the mirror, she had talked to him, touched him and the warmth she had procured him only a few minutes prior was still there, proving he hadn’t been losing his mind; yet she had been somewhere else altogether, somewhere he couldn’t follow and a part of him started to doubt of her existence._

_The chirping at his side made him turn away slightly to see the mice were still on the bench yet had no visible reflection in the mirror. Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen his own when the girl had been here up until he had tried to run after her and she was gone. It was way too disturbing so Keith decided to think about it later on, after they finish filming. But perhaps it was one of the ghosts? He’d have to ask Pidge when he joins the group back._

_“Is the art in this section to your liking?” A masculine voice behind his back made him jump in his skin as he turned to face the man who had spoken. He was old, perhaps in his late fifties but with a face that hadn’t suffered the passage of time. Perhaps a bit too shallow and gaunt but he compensated with his large shoulders and massive presence. His jet black hair were streaked with pure white and his inexpressive face - as well as his cold, dead eyes were all added to that intimidation factor._

_“Not quite.” He answered truthfully, a bit scared of looking towards the mice as they had made themselves small, hiding under the bench. “I’ve never heard of any of those painters and I can’t say I’m a big fan overall. I like the style thought, but not the muted colors.”_

_“Art is for everyone, yet not everyone share the same love for all schools.” The man nodded, gesturing Keith to move in the direction he had previously came in. “I appreciate your honest answer.”_

_“Thanks I guess. Who are you?”_

_“My name is Zachary Daibazaal, the other owner of this museum. I wanted to be the one to introduce you to the place but I had some important meetings and had to leave the task to my wife.”_

_“Oh, well. Can’t help it, right?” Keith tentatively said, hoping for some emotional answers from the man like an eyebrow twitch, a frown or the slightest form of responses instead of that apathy, this waxen face._

_The silence stretched between the two of them as they walked down the main hallway and Keith began to hear chatter in the distance. It sounded a lot like his friends so at least they didn’t seem to be panicked. Smoothing his sweaty hands over his shirt, he glanced quickly down at the mice who were more and more cocky and running slightly in front of him; He didn’t know why Mr. Daibazaal wasn’t able to see them but he felt relieved about knowing that._

_When he finally rejoined them, Keith found his friends sitting in a small rest area complete with watercooler and uncomfortable looking chairs. He’d really regret if he had to sit on any of them after what he had experienced with the benches._

_“Where the hell were you?” Shiro snapped at him, breaking the relaxed atmosphere there was between the four of them as his eyes locked on Keith. “Do you know how embarrassed we were when we discovered you got up and vanished on us?”_

_“Well, I thought I-”_

_“Wow, what a joke.” Lance quipped, leaning against Shiro’s shoulder. “Since when do you _think_?”_

_“Hah, good one Lance. He’s so stupid he can’t even follow a straight path.” Pidge laughed before going to high-five Lance, glasses glinting ominously in the low light of that part of the building._

_“Hey, why are you so mean suddenly?” He asked, definitely not amused by them ganging up on him._

_“Because we’re sick of you.” Hunk answered bluntly, his eyes cold and calculating. Cold like two gemstones so far away from his grasp. So cold it took a hold of his heart and squeezed, squeezed and squeezed. Left him breathless._

_“Huh?” Was all he could managed from his brain reeling. Why was Hunk saying that all of a sudden?_

_“Hard of hearing, are we today?” Lance mocked, getting up from his chair and beginning to circle Keith as a predator would. “Hunk just said we were sick of you, of your pathetic desire to please everyone, of your porcupine attitude and your disgusting self.”_

_Keith stepped back, intimidated by Lance’s fierce gaze and sharp tongue, before turning his head towards the others for help. Hunk was looking at his phone, looking completely disinterested on the scene while Pidge was filming it and Shiro was looking straight at him, eyes unwavering._

_“Shiro-” Keith tried to plea for help before getting cut by Lance again._

_“Oh boo hoo you gonna call for Shiro for help once again?” He mimiques a crying gesture with his hands. “Takashi, I think you spoiled your toy a bit too much.”_

_Keith’s head snapped towards Shiro, not being able to believe what was said to him or why Shiro was sighing like he agreed to what Lance just said. His heart was hammering in his chest and his mind was reeling from the shock._

_“You’re right. He doesn’t even obey all that well. I should have asked for a dog, not for a brother.”_

_“What are you talking about?” He asks Shiro, voice small and on the verge of breaking._

_“I thought a dog would bore me in the long run with having to take on walks, throwing its poop in the trash and all the slobber.” Shiro answered, disgust clear on his face. “So I asked my parents ‘can I have a little sibling? Don’t worry, I’ll teach him to be obedient and to play with me and above ten, they can take care of themselves already’. They were hesitant at first but I kept pushing and then you were there._

_“You were even more pathetic back then, looking at everything like a kicked puppy and shying away from us. That infuriated me. You were here to play with me, entertain me and you couldn’t even do that! So I asked my parents for something else, another kid who would be better but they told me no. That the social services would be suspicious if we only kept you for a short time period and returned you without reason._

_“So I kept trying, kept reaching out and _finally_ you would react, you would play. Finally you would obey me without questions and stop crying every fucking times. I can honestly say it was fun to play the protective and understanding older brother even if all I wanted when you hit adolescence was to beat you into obedience. When you talked back all I wanted was to slam your head into a wall. When you refused to entertain me, a sink full of water was very tempting. But I had to keep playing nice, keep playing the reliable big brother, because you kept making friends outside and that would be too much of a hassle keeping everyone away from you.”_

_Keith was shaking, trembling from all his limbs from hearing the one person he held high, the one man he respected and would always place on a piedestal spit venomously what he had been thinking about Keith for the past ten years was devastating. Lance was looking both impressed by Shiro’s discour and bored from having to sit it out until Keith understood his life had been one gigantic lie. Hunk was looking at Pidge’s phone and the girl herself was laughing her ass off from the spectacle in front of her._

_"Wow, you look so stupid with your mouth hanging open like that and your crestfallen face." She giggled, asking a high-five from Lance who crossed the room to give it to her._

_"Yeah, that's the most emotion I ever saw you make," Hunk agreed, looking flatly at Keith. "It's either anger or nothing so I was really disappointed when I realized you were attracted to me."_

_"And kinda grossed out." Lance and Pidge said in unison, proving how much their trio shared information despite all of them being friends for years._

_"Yeah, that too."_

_It felt like Keith’s heart was going to give in, going to rip out of his thoracic cage and fall to the fall to break into thousands of sharp pieces, cutting into his skin and leaving nothing of him. There was no way he could keep on listening to it, no way he would be able to continue being near them, near anyone after the sheer humiliation and betrayal he was enduring._

_“You’re all so rotten inside.” He managed to say, fists curling up on the icy cold floor. He didn’t know when he fell to his knees but it didn’t quite surprise him. After all, that was nothing against the pain inflicted upon his heart._

_“Better than to be empty.” Hunk countered, looking like all he wanted was to kick Keith in the face._

_“Hah! You kiss your mom with that mouth? It’s a wonder she wants to talk to you at all after abandoning you.”_

_Keith frowned at this remark and lifted his head to look at Lance. How would _Lance_ know that his mother had been wanting to have contacts with him for a few weeks now; schedule hadn’t really matched up for the both of them but they had hoped for a meeting in a month. Only Shiro knew that his mother had been reaching to the Shirogane for Keith’s own phone number, had talked a few times on the house’s phone. Only _Shiro_ knew. He had always told Lance, Hunk and Pidge he had been an orphan, that his father died in a fire and he didn’t remember anything of his mother. Not a word about her abandoning him. _

_“How would you even know that.” He said through his teeth, rage beginning to pile up inside him besides all the previous pain._

_He was reminded of Allura’s words again, remembered her advices and worries as to what he had been subjected by _someone_.and there was supposed to be one last, painful strike against him. This was probably it. No. This was a certainty. None of his friends would act towards him like that. No one would be sadistic enough to plow through all his weaknesses just to laugh and get some perverse fun out of it. _

_“Only Shiro knows about it. And he doesn’t even know we planned to meet. Just that we talked on the phone a few times.”_

_This had all been a trick of his mind, a powerful spell to break his spirit, to make him wish for the pain to stop, for Keith to yield and lose his trial._

_He remembered bits and pieces, memories getting back to him at high speed as he watched what was supposed to be his friends stumble and shy away from his heated glare, his deep seated hatred for the Witch. The mice, who were now back with him, climbing his pant to reach the pockets of his jacket were squeaking a ruckus, threatening the things that weren’t his friends with their small, sharp teeth._

_“Shield my heart and prove my mind is made of steel, huh? Kinda fucked up that you’ve been using images of my friends to hit me where it hurts the most.” He snarled at the shadowy figure behind the fading silhouettes of Hunk and Lance. It was covered with a heavy cloth, only strand of pure white hair falling off and contrasting against the black fabric. Her simple presence was toxic, making his instincts go crazy and a sheer _want_ to get away from her as far as possible. But he couldn’t back down just now. _

_“So you’re the Witch of that Court, huh? You crazy bitch.” He spitted, slowly rising to his feet, feeling brave despite the terror trying to get a grip of his soul. “I finished your little Trial, let me get back to my friends.”_

_“Tԋσυ αɾƚ α ƈσƈƙყ σɳҽ, αɾҽɳ'ƚ ƚԋҽҽ. Rυɳɳιɳɠ ƚԋყ ƚԋαƚ ϝɾσɱ ɯԋιƈԋ ɯҽ ʂρҽαƙ αƚ ɯԋιƈԋ ԋσυɾ ƚԋҽҽ ɯ'ɾҽ ƈʅσʂҽƚԋ ƚσ ƙҽҽɳιɳɠ ʝυʂƚ α ɱσɱҽɳƚ αɠσ. Cɾυʂԋιɳɠ ƚԋҽҽ ƈσɱρʅҽƚҽʅყ ɯσυʅԃʂƚ ԋαʂ'ƚ Ⴆҽҽɳ αɳ υƚƚ'ɾ ρʅҽαʂυɾҽ Ⴆυƚ υɳϝ'ɾƚυɳαƚҽʅყ ƚԋσυ αɾƚ ƈ'ɾɾҽƈƚ. Tԋҽҽ ɯσɳɳҽƚԋ. Rҽʝσιɳ ƚԋყ ƈαƚҽɾ-ƈσυʂιɳʂ αɳԃ Ⴆɾαყ συƚ ƚԋყ ʋιƈƚ'ɾყ ϝ'ɾ ƚԋσυ αɾƚ ƚσ ɾҽɱαιɳιɳɠʂ ƚσ ϝιɳιʂԋ ƚԋყ ƚɾιαʅʂ.”_

_Keith wanted to lash out, say something else to her, to give her a piece of his mind after what he had been through because of her but the place became dark, ink black and then he blinked._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter:  
> The last trials and finally, the exit.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Freed from his trial, Keith and his friends are a step closer to freedom.   
> There are still dangers lurking around them.   
> But the end is near.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who forgot to post the final chapter of their fic? If you guessed me, you're absolutely correct.   
> Have fun reading!

His head is hurting like hell when he regain consciousness and he only manage not to fall on the floor because two warm, strong hands held him by the armpits and lowered him gently on the floor so he wouldn’t bust his knees; there is a wet heat on his face and an iron taste in his mouth and when he manage to open his eyes and look at the purple carpet he was now kneeling on, he saw droplets of red falling on it and getting swallowed by the potent color. There was an arm rubbing his back in a soothing way and words of encouragement murmured his way. 

“Hey buddy. You feeling alright?” Shiro’s voice asks and Keith does his best not to tense up. This was _his_ Shiro. His brother, the one person that would always support him no matter what, not some mind construct used to hurt him. Yet it felt difficult to think that after what he had been through. 

“Leave him some space.” Lance said, voice low and concerned. “I don’t know what he went through but it didn’t look pleasant at al.”

“Understatement of the year.” Keith groaned, accepting the tissue one of his friend handed him. “How long was I out?” He asked because while they seemed to be panicking because of how he was faring now, they didn’t seem too concerned about the time and they didn’t appear to have moved much. 

“A few minutes. No more than ten I think. Why?” Hunk is the one to answer, kneeling in front of Keith, concern etched on his face like some cheap makeup. It didn’t suit him at all. 

“God, I felt like it lasted days.” He heaved out, shifting to sit down to relieve the pain in his knees. “It played a normal everyday scene but the worst was definitely how it made you treat me; it played with my emotions, with my relationship with all of you and I was believing last of it. It was that real.”

“Oh god.” Shiro said, sounding like someone just punched him in the guts. “That’s what he was talking about? Your trial was to see if you could handle being treated like garbage by the person closest to you?”

“You do know we would never do that, right? We love and respect you too much for that.” Pidge added, guilt clear inside of her eyes. “Like sure, sometimes we joke about you being unreliable and a hothead but we also joke about Lance being a nuisance, of Hunk being a snoop, of Shiro having several brooms up his ass and of me being a blackmail master.”

“I know that, Pidge.” He said, patting her on the tight, the closest thing at his reach. “While my mind had been tampered to think it happened before we got here, I knew something wasn’t right. And Allura helped me.” He whispered his last sentence, remembering Zarkon being unable to hear Lance and Shiro when they did so the last time. 

“She did?” Hunk asked, following his example and keeping his voice low. 

“ _Chirp_?” A curious snoot poked out of his jacket pocket and he felt Lance tense up, refraining from squealing like a little kid at the sudden sight. The green mouse was looking at the scene with curiosity and perhaps mischief. 

“Is that a mouse, Keith?!” Lance asked, voice trembling as he kept still as to not arise suspicions. 

“It’s small. What happened to the big purple one?” Pidge wondered, fingers smoothing the soft fur of the mouse. It seemed to understand the question and began gesturing with its front paws. 

It moved as if to explain, making a big circle with its paws and then crossing it before making four pizza slices in the hair and then pointing to itself with pride. 

“You… were the big mouse? But then you split in four?” The mouse nodded enthusiastically at Shiro guessing correctly and made a move that was so similar to Lance’s finger gun it felt infuriatingly cute. 

“Cσɳɠɾαƚυʅαƚισɳ ϝ'ɾ σʋ'ɾƈσɱιɳɠ ƚԋყ ƚɾιαʅ. I ԃҽƈʅαɾҽ ƚԋყ ƚɾιαʅ αʂ σʋ'ɾ, ƚԋσυ αɾƚ ϝɾҽҽ ƚσ ʂҽαƈԋҽƚԋ ϝ'ɾ ƚԋҽ ҽxιƚ αʂ ɳαყ σɳҽ ʂԋαʅʅ ʂʅαɳԃ ԋσ ƚԋҽҽ ϝɾσɱ ʅҽαʋιɳɠ ɱιɳҽ σɯɳ ƈσυɾƚ.”

Zarkon’s voice cut their little bubbles and they all tensed back up, turning to look at the Fae on his throne. But if Keith was to listen hard enough, he could hear something under his voice, something snaking its way into every words and sentences, every little details of Zarkon’s voice; like some parasite bringing a subtle echo to everything Zarkon said.   
“Kαƚԋ'ɾιɳҽ, ԃαυɠԋƚ'ɾ σϝ αʅႦ'ɾƚα, ƚԋყ ƚɾιαʅ ιʂ αʂ ϝσʅʅσɯҽƚԋ: ԃҽαƚԋ ιʂ Ⴆυƚ α ραɾƚҽƚԋ σϝ ʅιϝҽ αɳԃ α Ⴆҽԋσʋҽϝυʅ ҽxρ'ɾιҽɳƈҽ. Tԋσυ αɾƚ ԃҽϝყιɳɠ ƚԋҽ ɳαƚυɾαʅ 'ɾԃ'ɾ Ⴆყ ʂƚαყιɳɠ σɳ ƚԋιʂ ρʅαɳҽ; ιϝ 'ƚ Ⴆҽ ƚɾυҽ ƚԋҽҽ ɯαɳƚҽƚԋ ƚσ ρɾσʋҽƚԋ ყσυɾʂҽʅϝ ɯ'ɾƚԋყ σϝ ʂυƈԋ σρρ'ɾƚυɳιƚყ, ԃҽαƚԋ ʂԋαʅƚ ɾҽƈʅαιɱ ƚԋҽҽ ƈσɾʂҽ αɳԃ ʂσυʅ. Sԋαʅƚ ƚԋҽҽ ʂƈɾҽαɱҽƚԋ 'ɾ ɯ'ɾԃ αɳყ ƈσɱρʅαιɳƚ, ƚԋҽҽ ʂԋαʅʅ ʅσʂҽƚԋ. Dҽαƚԋ ιʂ ʂιʅҽɳƚ ʂσ ʂԋαʅƚ ƚԋҽҽ Ⴆҽҽʂƚ”

As soon as Zarkon said that, purple fire began to run on the carpet, fuming and menacing before it encircled Pidge completely, cutting her off from Keith and the others as he backed off from fear of getting burned. The intensity of its flames nearly blinding him, Keith protected his eyes with one of his arm before looking at where Pidge was still standing. 

Her form was barely visible behind the heat coming off in waves, trembling and hazy as she was hunched over and visibly trying not to move too much. Her colors felt washed out by the bright purple and felt more incorporeal than she was probably supposed to be as if some crazed artist had erased everything of her but her outline. 

“Pidge!” Hunk cried out, shaking from limb to limb as he tried to force himself to get close to her but the threat of the fire was keeping him away. “Oh my god! She’s fading? Burning?! Can she be burned even?!”

Lance shook his head, his nervous pacing making Keith nervous from where he could see him with his peripheral vision. “I don’t know. She’s already dead but in a Court, with someone having that much power it’s difficult to say. I’m not sure they want to hurt her physically because that wasn’t what he said in his little speech, but that can quickly become a problem if it is.” 

“What do you mean?” Keith asked, believing more and more that the whole situation was going to end up giving him the world’s worst stomach ulcers of all times. 

“Pidge is not normally a physical being. She uses a lot of quintessence to be able to become solid, touch things and appears human. Thankfully, our side is packed full of quintessence and she can even absorb it with her food; but here the place is messed up. The quintessence is stale, corrupted. I can easily replenish myself with it because it’s quite similar to my Kind’s own Court but she’s vastly different from me. 

“If she get hurt too much, she’ll need to take in her own quintessence supplies to heal herself. But if said supplies were to run out in this Court? She probably won’t be able to either maintain her physical form, meaning she could be compelled to cross to the other side or worse, she wouldn’t be able to maintain her sanity.”

“What are you talking about?” Hunk said with a wavering voice, a strange look in his eyes. Keith closed the distance between them to try and get Hunk to calm down by rubbing soothing circles on his back. 

“Pidge is an old ghost, something like a poltergeist if you want to be more accurate. Human psyche, dead or not, is not meant to keep on going for excessive periods of time. Their grip on reality can be askew, they can lose their humanity, their compassion, their reasons. A lot of what makes a human being human. Since she’s someone who’s very stubborn, she managed to stay sane for that long. But if she was brought to the point of snapping, I have no idea what could be happening.”

“What’s the worst case scenario?” Shiro asked, clearly ready to rip someone’s head - and Keith, being absolutely sure to know whose head was the most likely to come off was pretty eager to follow on the action. 

“She disappears. And the second worst scenario is she become a Wraith and she’s in a state where she cannot be brought back to sanity, she kills you all and then is bounded in this Court by the King.”

This sent chills to Keith’s back hearing Lance speak so casually of one of his best friend’s fate. He knew he shouldn’t think like that, that Lance was only laying down the possibilities, as dark as their seemed to them at the moment without sugar coating. They didn’t need to be held by the hand after all they had to go through the whole night but it was still a pretty heavy thing to be knowing. 

“How long is this supposed to last?” Shiro ask finally, arms crossed over his chest but muscles taunt as if all he wanted to do was punch something. Keith could relate to the feeling with all his might. 

“I don’t know. Allura probably would but she’s not here. Optimistically? As long as yours, ten minutes. Pessimist option is until she breaks.”

Lance was looking very aware that he just made everyone uncomfortable and shot down their spirit. But despite everything, Keith knew they deserved to know; Lance was the most knowledgeable at the present. 

“What can we do?” Shiro asked, always the first to jump to anyone’s help. “We weren’t able to do anything to help Keith because he just froze up, looking like a statue.”

“It embarrass me just thinking about it.” Keith sighed, slowly approaching the purple fire to see if he could do something about it. The heat was stark, prickling his skin but it wasn’t as harsh as he imagined it, remembering nearly getting burned the last time he went camping with the Shirogane. Compared to that time, this purple fire was uncomfortable to stand next to but not as unbearable. 

“Keith? What are you doing? Be careful.” Hunk said with a trembling voice, his hands just missing the hem of Keith’s jacket where he had wanted to grip him to stop him from moving towards Pidge further. 

“It’s not _that_ warm.” He reassured him, waving his hands as Lance approached as well, frowning. 

“Yeah, he’s right. Hey Pidge! Can you hear us? We’re here. We’re not leaving you.”

“I don’t think she can.” Shiro said, worry lacing his voice. “It’s hard to see but she looks exactly like when she’s stuck on a project and do a week full of all nighter.”

“She looks on the verge of crying. Do you think she’ll lose if she cries?” Hunk asked, kneeling to be able to see Pidge’s expression better. “People cries silently a lot. There’ll be no sounds. Is the sound the only thing that counts?”

“I don’t know.” Lance answered. Clearly, he was at a loss too because he was starting to circle the fire in a nervous fashion, ready to dig a moat around them for walking too much. 

“It’s ok not to know.” Shiro told him, stopping him from walking further as he encircled him in his arms, trapping him efficiently. “There’s nothing against helping each others, in their trials, remember? While you were too late to help with mine and Keith’s happened in his mind, I still went to save you and Allura reached out to Keith.”Keith nodded at that, wondering if they found a loophole or if the Faes of this Court didn’t really had anything that counted as cooperation, which rendered any outside help was authorized by proxy. 

“C’mon Pidge! We’re here! You can do it!”

“Yeah, show that asshole who’s boss! Show them nothing can break you!” Lance added, going as far as approaching his hand close enough to nearly touch the fire. 

“Lance!” Shiro cried out, pulling him up away slightly. “Don’t do that! We don’t need anyone else being hurt.”

“It didn’t.” Lance mused with a low voice. “I mean, it was definitely hott but not ‘normal fire’ hot.”

“She doesn't need to suffer alone." Keith decided, getting close enough to the flames to feel its warmth against his face and for the fire to lick at his shoes and plunged his hands inside, gripping Pidge’s left arm and squeezing tight to let her know he was by her side. The flames, while not burning him like any fire would do, were still extremely warm. It felt like putting his hands inside a bucket full of boiling water, minus the instantaneous scalding of his skin. 

“Fuck.” He gritted out, resisting the urge of taking his hands out and protect himself. This was nothing, he told himself, this was nothing against Pidge’s own pain. This was just a itch compared to the suffering she had to go through, all of her willpower used not to scream, not to whimper. The fire made no sound, allowing everyone present to instantly know if Pidge did anything that would make her lose her trial. Sadistic as ever. 

“Kick their ass!” Lance exclaimed before following Keith’s exemple and putting one of his hand on her back, quickly joined by Shiro’s own as they were holding each other with their unused one. Hunk took on himself to get a grip on Pidge’s right arm with his two hands, letting out a whimper of pain when he passed the wall of fire. 

“If you can hear us, Pidge, just know that we’re here to share your pain! We’re your friends.” Hunk said, confidence shaking in his voice despite how strong he wanted to appear. “We’ll be with you no matter what!”

“C’mon! You’re the strongest of our group.” Lance added, sweat making his forehead shine as he tried to old in his own pain. “You can totally kick their ass! Think of something else, something you love!”

“Think about Matt. Think about Coleen and Sam.” Shiro joined them, gaining some sort of reaction from Pidge. She had twitched slightly when her family had been mentioned and her face seemed less scrunched up. 

“Remember the first time we met?” Keith said, desperately trying to keep himself from taking his hands off Pidge. While the fire felt uncomfortably warm against his skin, Pidge was becoming colder by the minute. “Lance had wanted to introduce us in pure blind date fashion and you were convinced I came in the coffee shop to rob you of the few cents you had in your wallet.”

“Oh come on, Keith!” Lance whined at that, remembering the shame of having two pissed off friends with the ability to make his life a nightmare on his ass for what he thought should have been an innocent joke. “You were the ones who couldn’t communicate enough to resolve the situation by yourself.”

“You basically told me: go there, don’t be scary.” Keith continued, feeling better as he teased Lance. 

“Yeah well, that’s not as worst as how I met _him_.” Hunk chidded in, earning himself a gasp of betrayal from Lance. “When we were kids he went up a tree to retrieve something from a girl from our neighborhood and he fell on top of me. He then had the gall to ask me out for ice cream, even after it was apparent he broke his arm." 

Shiro broke out into laughter as Lance sputters from embarrassment, kept from slapping Hunk by Shiro's strong hold on his hand and the other he kept firmly on Pidge's back. 

"Wait, wait. How does it even work?" Keith asked, a bit confused about the chronology. "If you're older than Pidge, how can you meet Hunk in your childhood?” 

“Because I was looking like a child, duh.” Lance stuck his tongue out like a kid. “I’m a changeform, it’s easy for me to go from a lady’s man like now to some younger form. It was useful back in the day: people could trust kids way more than handsome strangers. 

“Handsome? Yeah, I don’t know about that.” Hunk snickered, avoiding skillfully a kick sent by Lance, only saved by the awkward angle. 

“Everyone is mean towards me, Shiro.” Lance whined and this time Keith was sure he felt a reaction from Pidge. The tremor felt was strange, as if she was holding it in and Keith felt automatically worried. Was she breaking down? Was the pain she was feeling becoming too much? 

“Don’t worry, Lance.” Shiro told him with a sweet smile. “I’d love you even if you weren’t good looking.”

This time he thought he heard her make some sound but wasn’t so sure about it. Shiro and Lance were bickering with each other and Hunk was stifling his own laughter. 

“Come on, guys, let's be more serious.” Keith tried to say but it felt forced and not at all sincere. “It’s not like when Shiro tried to make me barbecue when we tried camping for the first time and chucked the whole package of marshmallows in the fire, attracting a whole lot of insects to our camps.”

“Keith!” Shiro sounded indignant and Keith was startled by his tone, his brain scratching out and going back to how the Shiro in his trial had been cruel with his words, with his cold eyes and dead heart- 

It was dangerous thinking about it when Pidge was currently fighting for her life, for her sanity and for her freedom; tethering on that heart wrenching pain would be bad for everyone involved. And he wouldn’t want to be the one to be blamed for making Pidge lose her trial by being too self absorbed. 

“Well did you know that Pidge once tried to prank Matt but she failed so hard she ended up getting stuck in a ceiling fan for a week straight? She’s absolutely terrible at possession.” Lance laughed before beginning to tell Shiro how she’d been so infuriated by her situation she ultimately broke the ceiling fan by turning it too fast and nearly decapitating Coleen with the blade. 

At this point, with how Lance was describing everything it was hard to keep calm and collected with the situation so it felt a bit awkward at first when a snicker finally breached the tight seal of his lips and soon he joined the laughter of his friends, his hands clutching desperately at Pidge’s arm when he was suddenly caught off guard by her bursting out in a strangled fit of laughter, her body visibly shaking with such quakes it nearly made Keith lose his grip on her. 

“Wow hey!” Lance exclaimed as he was brought further inside of the fire by Pidge folding forward and holding her belly through her fit of laughter. Keith felt some sort of darkness watching over them, seething with anger and poisonous frustration; and when he glanced towards the King sitting on his throne in the same position as before - clearly he didn’t move much, if at all - his gaze felt attracted to some darker patch of shadows behind the throne where he thought the strange, threatening feeling was coming from. There was definitely someone there, hidden deep in the gloom. Seeing as no one less powerful could be behind the kind of the Court, Keith assumed it was the dreaded Witch Allura and the Dryad had referenced.

“Omg you guys are just pure idiots.” She said and held out her arms, making Keith nearly lose his hold on her. “I can’t believe it; I’m being tortured by some crazy, evil asshole and all you think to do is recall some stupid memories of the past and make a jerk circle of embarrassment?!” 

“What else do you think we could do.” Lance said at the same time Hunk said “That’s totally Keith’s fault.” which made him irk up in irritation at being thrown under the bus so quickly. What friend he was. 

Well, it wasn’t like Keith could be mad at Hunk for long as well. He was always weak for him and his smile after all. The mice in his pocket shifted and squeaked slightly, a bit mocking as if it could read his mind. What a cheeky thing. 

“Still, thank you.” She smiled at them as the fire sputtered out of existence, quenched by the positive atmosphere around them, their smile and fits of giggles a powerful remedy to pain; Pidge was see-through and shaking, lines of hurt around her eyes and a dark glint in them. Keith’s heart couldn’t handle it, couldn’t one of his friend suffering so he gathered her in a hug as the King was once again speaking. 

“”Cσɳɠɾαƚυʅαƚισɳ ϝ'ɾ σʋ'ɾƈσɱιɳɠ ƚԋყ ƚɾιαʅ. I ԃҽƈʅαɾҽ ƚԋყ ƚɾιαʅ αʂ σʋ'ɾ, ƚԋσυ αɾƚ ϝɾҽҽ ƚσ ʂҽαƈԋҽƚԋ ϝ'ɾ ƚԋҽ ҽxιƚ αʂ ɳαყ σɳҽ ʂԋαʅʅ ʂʅαɳԃ ԋσ ƚԋҽҽ ϝɾσɱ ʅҽαʋιɳɠ ɱιɳҽ σɯɳ ƈσυɾƚ.”

God that didn’t feel satisfying with Pidge trembling in his arms and how scalded his arms felt. He didn’t regret any of it but the pain was adding to his anger and he was pretty much shaking as much as Pidge was, sending poisonous daggers at the fae king and the shadow behind him. 

“I have enough of their sick games.” He growled, as he felt the icy glare of the witch on him once again. It felt suffocating and malicious, something that was making very uneasy. 

“Calm down, Keith.” Shiro tried to soothe him, with no real effects. “There’s still Hunk to go and then we’ll be able to get out of this place.”

“We’ll need to find Allura and Coran too.” Lance added. “I won’t let them down there by themselves, even if she tried to kill me once.” 

“Stop being such a baby.” Pidge grumbled, her tremors having faded enough for ehr to stand on her own, sickly pale with her tear streaked cheeks and red eyes. “Anyone would want to murder you at least one time since you’re so annoying.”

“Rude.” Lance scoffed before becoming silent as Zarkon began to speak again, the witch’s voice laced in his, parasitic as ever. 

“Hυɳƙ, ʂσɳ σϝ Aʅι'ƚαʂι, ƚԋყ ƚɾιαʅ ιʂ αʂ ϝσʅʅσɯҽƚԋ: ƚԋҽ ƈყƈʅҽƚԋ σϝ ʅιϝҽ ɾυɳʂ ιƚʂ ƈσυɾʂҽ ϝ'ɾ ҽʋ'ɾყ Ⴆҽιɳɠʂ αɳԃ ɳαყ σɳҽ ιʂ ҽxƈҽρƚισɳ. Tԋσυ αɾƚ αƚ ƚԋҽ Ⴆҽɠιɳɳιɳɠ, ʅιɱႦʂ ʂυρρʅҽ αɳԃ ʂƚσυƚ ʂσυʅ, ƚαƙιɳɠ ҽʋ'ɾყƚԋιɳɠ ϝ'ɾ ԃιԃ ɠɾαɳƚ αʂ ƚԋҽҽ ʂƚɾιԃҽƚԋ ƚԋҽ ραƚԋ σϝ αԃυʅƚԋσσԃ ɯιƚԋ ʋαɳιƚყ. Tҽƚԋ'ɾ ƚԋҽ ʅιɱιƚ σϝ ƚԋყ ʅιϝҽ αɳԃ ρυɾʂυҽ ƚԋҽ ραƚԋɯαყ ƚσ ƚԋყ ԋҽαɾƚԋ αƚ ɯԋιƈԋ ρσιɳƚҽƚԋ ϝɾҽҽԃσɱ ϝɾσɱ ɱιɳҽ σɯɳ ƈσυɾƚ ʂԋαʅʅ Ⴆҽҽʂƚ ƚԋყ ʂαʅʋαƚισɳ.”

Their last trial. Finally their last hurdle before they get to get away from this nightmare of a place. Yet Keith was feeling deterred by what the trial would imply for Hunk. Graciously, they had been offered freedom at prize for Hunk finishing his trial but ‘tethering the limit of his life’? This sounded sinister and wrong, like a clock sounding dull and out of time. 

There was a shallow, sadistic smile growing inside of the darkness in the shadows where the witch was hiding herself, making Keith’s hair stand on the back of his head as if he was gaze upon by an enormous snake. 

Reality warped around them once again, like paper being ripped out of a book and scrunched in a tight to be thrown in the trash; it was more frightening than the other times and Keith really thought that this time they’d suffer some damages from that haunting way of being transported one place to another but he felt nothing other than the now familiar suffocating darkness before a soft breeze made him open his eyes on a familiar landscape. They had finally returned to the forest. 

Keith blinked at the sight, not really believing they were finally out of that throne room and not thrown into another majestically creepy place. The tree branches were idly swaying in the wind and the sky was open and free of imposing ceiling; Keith freed Pidge from his grasp, knowing she’d far better without constant hovering and that support, while appreciated and needed wasn’t what they should be focusing on for the time being. 

After all, this was Hunk’s trial now. Their final trial before they could truly leave this nightmarish place and go home to a familiar, non-threatening scenery. They would focus on keeping Hunk safe and find their new friends and the stairs then he would treat everyone for pizza and perhaps later on psychologist seances. He turned to his friend to assess his situation and give some sort of pep talk - even if Kance would be the person most suited for it - before he froze at the sight of friend. 

“Oh god. Hunk...” He said, pity mixed bewilderment clear in his voice; because Hunk was looking old, so old and frail he looked like he could break at anytime. With his now white hair, his skin wrinkled and paper thing, the tremble in his aged hands and the way he was leaning forward to keep his back from hurting, Hunk looked like forty years had been added to his age. He could hear the other’s reacting as well, unsure of what to do and how to act. 

“Shit, what did she do to me?” He asked with a shaky, husky voice as if his throat was coming from an ill maintained fireplace. “I feel so weak and my joints hurts like hell. And I feel like my back is going to give out on me if I try to straighten up.”

“You’ve aged.” Shiro said, lacking tact with how shocked he was about the situation. The other probably wouldn’t have said it much better and it was good to go straight to the point right now; as long as Hunk understood the situation and didn’t break down, as long as they found the staircase to freedom it’ll be alright: because Hunk would return to normal once they get back to their world and their lives. 

“You’re all wrinkly.” Lance said, not quite understanding how the situation was bad; he looked morbidly fascinated by seeing his friend losing the luster of youth he previously had, like it was the first time he was near someone that old that he actually _cared for_. 

“It’ll be ok, Hunk.” Shiro said to reassure him, looking apologetic from his earlier kind of insensitive remark. “As long as we find our way back, we’ll be able to reverse it and you will be twenty-two again.”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to follow your rhythm.” He plainly said, leaning against a tree to alleviate the pain in his joints. “I feel like I’ve aged to my grandpa’s age and I still remember how he was: constantly in pain and unable to move from the house to the back garden without preparation and a walker.”

“Hunk, I’ll put it simply and in terms your now equally wrinkly brain can understand,” Pidge said with strength behind her words, “but you’re fucking stupid if you think we’re going to abandon you just because now you have more difficulties walking. You must be a moron to just up and give up. What they did to you is crazy and frankly terrifying just imagining the power required to do that, but that’s not a reason to leave you behind.”

“You don’t need me to escape.” Hunk said bluntly, his grey hair falling in front of his eyes, still the same warm brown as always. “You’ve already completed your trials, there’s no reason to keep with me.”

"There's one reason," Pidge interjected "and that's fuck you. We're not leaving you here."

"She's right." Shiro sighed, a bit taken aback by her words. "I would have worded it less aggressively but she said it with [good thinking/spirit or whatever, don't remember how the saying goes.] We came here together, we get out of here together. No one gets left behind."

"That's right! Ohana and everything." Lance exclaimed. “Wait no, I realized how stupid it was when it left my mouth.” He looked upset with himself but thankfully no one really gave him words for it; after all, a blunder was easily forgiven.

“It’s ok, you usually are.” Pidge countered, still looking furious about Hunk. She had wanted to say something else when the mouse in Keith’s pocket jumped to the ground and squeaked at them, going as far as lifting its two front paws in the air and gesturing for them to move, to follow. It was seriously impressive how expressive it was for a small animal. 

“Where are you leading us?” Shiro asked as Keith took upon himself to help Hunk walk, bearing most of his weight and setting a slow but regular pace so as to not tire him out too quickly. 

The mouse stopped for a short moment to mimic flowy long hair and a well taken care off mustache. “Allura and Coran?” it nodded at Hunk before they resumed walking, avoiding roots that stood up too high or patches of leaves that looked slippery. Hunk’s pace was hesitant and seemed quite painful so everyone was trying to accommodate him as best as possible yet it seemed to be getting more and more difficult as they walked, as if nature itself was trying to slow them down and trip them up.

The bushes around them rustled with ominous intent, the temperature dropped to barely comfortable levels and the unbearable silence around them was suffocating, alienating. It was as if the forest was one big beast taunting them before jumping for the kill. 

“I’m sorry for slowing you down.” Hunk softly said to Keith, low enough to only be heard by him and none of their friends. 

“You don’t have to worry about it, Hunk.” Keith flashed a small smile at him before helping climb over a root. “Either way, we don’t know where to go to find those stairs so no matter our pace it won’t change a lot. Plus it’s not like we were just going to abandon you just because you got a little grey. ”

“I’m pretty sure I’m more than ‘a little grey’, Keith. But thank you for trying to downplay what happened to me.”

“Don’t worry about it. I just keep you away from Lance and his ‘beyond silver fox’ jokes that I’m pretty sure he was dying to say.”

“Is there even something above a silver fox?” Hunk raised an eyebrow before leaning his weight on Keith’s shoulders as the ground under them was trying to suction their shoes.

“I don’t know and I don’t dare ask Pidge.” Is Keith’s answer but the twinkle of humour in Hunk’s eyes reassures him. He understood a while back that a high spirit and a laugh were not accepted by this Court, hated and repulsed by the sound of laughter; a high chance for the place to feed itself with despair and death. Keeping Hunk talking, keeping him from sinking into a depressed state was the most important thing to do. Keeping Hunk safe was Keith’s mission. 

“You know she doesn’t mind helping, even if she teases us a lot.” Hunk added after a short while, looking at Pidge who was currently speaking with Shiro and pointing one of her ghost hunting tool around. How she had kept them all this time was a mystery to Keith because even Hunk had lost his camera at one point. “I think her quirks and all came from being so old, don’t you think?”

“I guess. Is your new founded wiseness due to your white hair or was I missing it?”

“Bit of both.” Hunk jokes, his laugh a bit raspy and winded from exhaustion. “I’m going to rob Shiro’s role of silver fox.”

Keith’s mind went a bit blank at that, trying to imagine Hunk as a middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair, his face less wrinkly and beaten up by the time. Now he knew how Hunk looked in his old ages so trying to spawn a picture of him on the cusp of his life was pretty easy. And no matter what, he would always look strong and handsome. 

“Keith?”

“You’ll be the most handsome man ever.” He blurted out, nearly biting his tongue off from the way he snapped his mouth shut as not to say anything more. There was something keeping him from spilling his thoughts proper, creeping in the back of his head. The face of Hunk - no, it wasn’t Hunk, just a mere shadow created by the Witch, it hadn’t been true - telling him it was disappointing to have Keith be attracted to him, how gross it was and how Keith was emotionless. Nothing had been real yet it had spoken with some truth, perhaps pulled from his own fears and memories. Knowing what he was afraid off didn’t mean he had the strength to do something about it. 

“Well I’d be losing to you then.” And this time Keith nearly slips from the shock, his mind reeling at Hunk’s words. “Wow, that must have sounded creepy coming from me right now.” Hunk looked a bit down at that.

“No, not at all.” Keith retorted quickly, attracting Lance’s attention from where he was walking a few feet from them. “I’m kinda glad you found me attractive.” He added a bit softer, averting his eyes from the look Hunk suddenly got, something very pleased mixed with pride. From… making Keith flush? Wow. He didn’t realize Hunk was the type of person to tease people he - admittedly - found attractive and that definitely meant Keith. 

"Honestly if Lance had never given me the shovel talk, _twice_ , I wouldn't have realized I was acting like Shiro and he did on a daily basis."

"How strange is that, that someone can see it in other people but not _see_ it’s the exact same for themselves?”

“Blinkers, maybe?”

“Well mine have been removed.” Keith mumbled, cheeks burning and eyes straight on the path, not quite wanting Hunk to see how flustered he was about spilling his feelings like that. "Hunk?"

“Yes, Keith?"

"After we get out of here, would you like to go out with me? Somewhere chill? Without threat for our lives?"

"I'd love to." Hunk was probably blushing as much as he was and it felt nice, it felt kind of comfortable despite their surroundings as if the warmth Keith felt on his cheeks and inside him was slowly but surely permeating the space between them. 

“Smooch later guys, I spotted Allura’s wild hair.” Pidge interrupted them, a vague, knowing look on her face the only indication they were going to be teased relentlessly afterwards. 

And true to her words, a few seconds later Allura and Coran had joined their little group, exhaustion clear on both of their face even if Allura seemed way worse than even before; Keith knew she had been an active part in helping him [surmont] his trial and the fact the huge, purple mouse was now separated in four adorable little mice - the green mouse was happily reuniting with her three comrades - indicated she had used more of her magic to find them yet again. 

“Allura, thank god.” Hunk sighed with relief as Lance presented the two Alteans to Shiro and Coran was launching himself into an epic right here and there. 

“Oh, Hunk.” She looked sad and enraged at once and it was truly a terrifying sight. “She did that to you, didn’t she?”

“Apparently it’s his trial.” Keith told her, which made Allura close her eyes in defeat and acknowledgment. “he said something about the cycle of life and being at its limits, which apparently means being an old man until we get out of this Court.”

“I’m sorry, Hunk but I cannot reverse your state as it is.” Allura apologized, looking downright heavy hearted. “I already stated how powerful she was but this? This is way above what I can do; manipulating someone’s time is extremely difficult and any errors can be fatal to the one it is casted upon.”

“So all we can do is wait until its reversed by getting out?” Hunk asked, looking tired and a bit disheartened by knowing he’d have to stay like this for however longer. 

Keith was looking around them, his thumb rubbing Hunk’s wrist idly, pushing over the metal of his bracelet and over the small stone imbedded in it. He lowered his gaze to where they were holding hands and frowned slightly from the soft, pulsating blue light coming from under the sleeve. 

It felt out of place, strange in its own way and Keith softly pulled up the sleeve to see what was emitting the light only to be baffled to see it coming from the small stone of Hunk's bracelet; the purity of its light making him feel reassured, protected. Such a contrast against the uncomfortable, unforgiving purple everything gave off. It was reminiscent of Allura's magic yet it felt more strange, older. 

“It’s blinking.” He said, the attention of Both Hunk and Allura. Hunk tensed a little, surprised by what was happening to his accessory and clearly not comfortable with it emitting light so suddenly; Allura was the opposite, gasping and leaning towards it, even going as far as snatching Hunk’s hand from Keith’s. Alright, fine. If he couldn’t hold his hand anymore,then he’ll just have to put his arm around his waist. 

“A balmera crystal!” She exclaimed, catching Pidge and Coran’s attention; the first because it was something she didn’t know about and was becoming extremely curious of Allura’s excitement over it and the later because he probably got a second sense of Allura exhausting herself magically whenever she was onto something. “Though tiny, it’s remarkably well cut and exude quintessence. As if it’s calling for its twin…”

“His twin?” Lance asks, frowning. He must have been trying to think about the situation too. “Wait, you mean like, another Balmera crystal?”

“Yes!” Allura nodded, her fingers softly caressing the stone.

“But that’s the only one I’ve got and the people I’ve talked to about it assures me there’s only a few shards scattered in the most well preserved collections.”

“Oh, a Twin is not always the exact same, especially concerning Balmeras.” Coran chidded in, twirling his mustache. The green mouse’s impression of him had been spot on. “A Balmera mostly takes on its owner; the likes, the dislikes and the personality if I can say so. It reflects a lot in the quintessence it gives off. The purer the blue, the more powerful it is. It was also a way to power most of our technology and when you-”

“Thank you Coran.” Allura interrupted him, a bit ticked off by his tendencies of going on a tangent. “But Balmera crystals also serves as protections against evil and... “

“And what?” Keith asked a bit confused as to why Allura would just stop in the middle of a sentence like that. 

“A Wayfinder.” She whispered something shining in her eyes that made Keith’s inside flutter with - something. Shared acknowledgment, hope maybe?

“Wait, aren’t these supposed to be super rare and impossible to replicate?” Pidge asked, looking at Lance as if he had the answer to her question.

“Well that’s what my abuela told me. Something about the process to making them being lost, of it being useless or whatever.”

“But if the Balmera crystals are lost and few in a dozen, then it’s logical.” Pidge wondered, looking like she was having a breakthrough. “There is less knowledge about it, less chance for two pieces to ‘meet’ and do that Twining thing; if you don’t have Balmera crystals then you obviously can’t make a wayfinder and even if you were able to mimic it it wouldn’t be as powerful or accurate because of the crystals’ own properties.” 

“And without anyone to know how to use them as well, then those are just shiny rocks that are only valuable because they’re rare and not because of how powerful they definitely are in the hands of an experienced quintessence user.” Allura confirmed. “But we are in luck! I _am_ an experienced user of both quintessence and Balmera crystals!”

“Are you going to do the same thing you did with our phones?” Hunk asked, a few colors coming back to his face from the rest he was getting.

“Absolutely.” She nodded before gently unclasping the bracelet from his wrist and softly blowing on the rock and making some shiny dust floats idly from it. She then twisted her finger through it as if she was stirring some glowing potion before pointing sharply back to the stone and the dust began to be sucked into it. This made the Balmera crystal flash and the blinking was now gone, replaced by a shiny arrow protruding from the gem, pointing towards their left. 

it maybe took a few minutes and looked simple enough but Allura had yet again this look of fatigue on her face, digging some [blemishes] under her eyes. If Keith could say sorry about exhausting her so much for one night he would but survival was far more important for the moment; as long as Allura was able to move then they would always have time to exchange platitudes outside of this Court. 

“It’s working.” She sobbed softly, looking on the verge of tears. “We can get out, Coran. We can finally leave this place; since we all finished our trials the stairs will not move from wherever they are set. We no longer have to wander inside this somber forest, no longer have to fight for our lives and hope not to be poisoned by the food we scavenge. We are going to be free from the influence of the Witch.”

She was full on crying at the end and Pidge awkwardly patted her on the back, before Lance joined in on it and hugged her, smoothing the long, white strand of hair and making shushing noises. 

“I don’t really want to be the jerk,” Shiro said with nervosity in his voice, “but I’m pretty sure that Witch never intended on us leaving the Court, trial finished or not. If she learn _somehow_ that we found a way to the exit then she won’t be pleased.” 

They all nodded and Keith helped Hunk stand up, Coran coming to the other side to assist him and whispering encouragements as they began to follow Allura, who was valiantly marching in front, followed closely by the mice and Shiro’s hand was nervously hovering over the gauntlet at his hip.

Despite all their worries it seemed nothing was going to stop them from following the Wayfinder’s arrow, the only thing slowing them down was the pace imposed by Hunk’s state. The forest was oppressive around them, dozen of invisible eyes straight over their back making Keith want to scratch it against a tree like a bear; from how uncomfortable and icky it made him it would surely be the only solution. 

“I can see them!” Lance exclaimed, gaining everyone’s attention as he pointed in the distance. “The stairs are a hundred meter away, come one we’re nearly there.” He said, urging them forward. Hunk seemed revitalized by the good news and his pace became longer, startling Keith in following suit, making him stumble from the suddenness of it. 

The hair at the back of his neck suddenly stood up straight as a gust of wind hit him in the back, making the air around them feel uncomfortably cold and the tree creaks all about. His guts tightened in a painful knot as they finally slowed down to approach the stairs, Lance moving to climb on Shiro’s back as usual and Coran bending to take Hunk into his, their group wounding in a close circle at the bottom of their exit.

They shouldn’t have stopped focusing on danger. They shouldn’t have felt safe so close to the end when it was apparent this whole forest had been dead set on killing them since they first put their feet in it. Because as soon as Pidge put one of her foot on the first stair step, a furious screeching resonated behind them as the forest exploded and send soil flying. 

The roots surrounding them were wildly whipping in the air, reaching for them but unable to touch them as they backed off, but it was apparent whatever was attacking them wasn’t yet finished; thinner, more malicious looking tendrils snaked on the floor, trying to snatch their ankles or any parts they could reach by stretching upwards like snakes. 

It was arduous keeping track of them while urging Hunk forward. Coran got the bright idea of taking him in his arms instead, the frantic pushing of Keith at his back giving him a well needed boost to begin climbing up, followed by Pidge. 

"C'mon Keith, move!" Shito urged him as Keith frantically took out his knife to slice the perfide tendrils off his shins, a black like ichor dropping off the severed parts, coating his pants. It felt ice cold and [gluant], like liquid slime.

"Give me a minute." He answered in the same tone before jumping at Lance's rescue as vines were wrapping around his torso.

"Shit!" His friend cried out and Keith understood why as his hand was cut by the sharp thorns; his knife went through them like butter but the whiplash caught him in his shoulder, slicing both his vest and skin and opening a nasty, painful wound. He nearly dropped his knife from the pain but his hand was to tightly clamped around the handle it would be difficult to let go of it so easily. 

"Son of a bitch." He growled as Allura ran down to their level to take Lance on her shoulders in a fireman carry before Shiro pushed Keith by his left, uninjured shoulder.

"Let's go, Keith. We're nearly there."

" _Ị̴̉ ̴̳̈́w̶͜o̷̘̓ń̵̳'̸̯͌t̶͇̔ ̶͉͐l̶̟̂ĕ̸̤t̴͕́ ̴̺̆y̸̰̓ọ̴̕u̷̞͛ ̴̼̈́g̴̮̒o̵̙̎ ̸̮̎s̸̱͛o̵̼͗ ̴̩̚e̷̥̚a̷̻͒s̸͖̔i̷̡̛ḻ̴͊y̶̲͝!̴̯̾_ " A sudden, broken voice screeched behind them as a flurry of dead, rotting leaves was blown away to reveal the deformed figure of an once beautiful woman, now looking as if she had been staying way too long in a humid and dark place, with her cracked, moist skin covered in fungus and her mossy hair falling of her head, yet immediate replaced by new ones. " _̴̣̞͆̾Y̸̼ö̶̞̙́u̷͒̓ͅ ̶̹̓w̸̢̬̌i̵̗̊͝l̸̬̀͝l̵̩͓̂̂ ̸͈͋̎ͅp̵̗̐a̴̓ͅy̵̝͇̑ ̴̫̳͌̿f̴̻͈̍o̸̝ṙ̴͕̺ ̶̢̊̕͜t̸͇̭͒̈́ḧ̴̠̉e̷̗̭̍ ̷̫̓ṣ̶̌͝h̷͖̭́a̵̖̾͘m̴̺͉̈ẹ̵͠͝ ̸̨̫́y̵̘̓o̶̹̺̓ú̸̡̄ ̶̢̱͒b̶͇̞͂̑r̵̤͇͑͛ǒ̷̢̘͋u̶̗̭̽g̵͚̾h̸̟͇̀t̴̜̿ ̶̘̠͝o̶̦̔̍ņ̵̓͂ ̶͉̌̓ù̶̳̪̍s̸̭̲̚!̷̤͚͛_ "

"Asimina?" Lance squealed, the only one who cared enough to remember the name of the Dryad and what she looked like. "Wait! We're free to leave!"

" _Ẏ̴̹o̵͇͌u̷̗͛ ̵̹̅r̷̪̋e̵͠ͅa̴̤͌l̷̼͘l̶̙̈́ȳ̵̦ ̶̠̎t̵̹̆h̷̖̆i̶͉͘n̸̝̕k̸̺̈́ ̵̧̍Ȉ̵̱ ̴̮͋c̵̻̈a̶̩r̵̹̄e̶̲?̷̫̽ ̵̦͌N̴͎̑o̵̢͘ ̴̞̈́m̶̪̆â̶͙t̷̙̀t̸̝̅ę̵̆r̵̗͒ ̶͎̃w̵͕̎h̸͓̽a̸͔͊ṫ̷̻ ̵͓̚w̸̙̉ĭ̶̤l̸̈́͜l̶̖̑ ̷̼̎ḧ̶̪́a̸̪͠p̷̯̅p̴̗̓ę̷̒ṅ̸͔ ̷̼̏t̸̪̿o̷̬͂ ̵͓̅ḿ̴͜ę̷͗ ̵̳̓n̸͚͘e̴̹̋x̷̺͘t̷̪͋,̷̠͒ ̵͎͝Í̶̗ ̸̯͠w̷͠ͅo̸̦̍n̸̬̾'̶͎̉t̵͔͐ ̴̥̅b̴̟̓e̸͚͆ ̷̨̓ș̴̐ä̸̝́t̵̤͠i̶̦͒s̷̜̾f̵̹̂i̷͇̇ḙ̴͠d̴̙̍ ̴̜͝u̵̝͂n̴̠t̸͉i̴̢͒l̶̳̾ ̴̼͝Ḯ̶̹ ̴̹̀â̵͈v̷̺͂e̵̟͆n̸̛̹g̴̫͂e̸̥̿ ̸̒ͅo̴̯̔u̴͔̅r̵̀͜ ̴̬̂h̸͓͠o̸̪͌n̶͔̒ȍ̴͙r̴̡͒ ̵͙̆b̷̯̌y̴̝̑ ̵͔̆ś̸͉p̷̱̈i̸̞l̷̮̽l̸̙̂ḯ̸͕n̵̳̆g̴̯̕ ̸̣̇ỹ̴̭o̶̰͝u̸̗͑r̵̒ͅ ̸ͅb̸̲̚l̶͖̎ő̸̡o̵̠͊d̵̪͛,̸̞ ̷͎͑_ w̵̟͂ǎ̸̮t̵̥̎e̵̗̓r̴̼̓ ̴̫b̶͕̍r̵̛ͅo̸͙̍ţ̵̚ḧ̷̲e̶̛̺r̸̲̀!̶̟̈́"

She lunged at them, teeth bared and ready to tear his throat when Shiro jumped in her way, punching her enough to stale her before she changed target and sunk her teeth in his arm, making Shiro cry out in pain.

"Shiro!" They screamed in unison and Keith would have done something to help him but Allura had been faster, her whip cracking and wounding around the Dryad's neck before slicing it off in one movement, elegant and deadly. The body slumped harshly on the wooden stairs and started to roll down towards the forest, bark like parts breaking from it and flying off; the head was starting to crumble as well but kept its teeth planted tightly in Shiro’s arm, blood trickling from the bite. 

Shiro slumped down a little, his left arm trying to disengage the teeth sunk in his flesh but with one hand, it proved to be difficult so Keith walked down the few steps to him and helped him get the thing off of him. He nicked his fingers over the teeth and his shoulder was hurting like hell through it but when they finally freed Shiro’s arm Keith couldn’t help himself but kick the thing away from the both of them. 

“Overdoing much?” Shiro chuckled a bit and Keith frowned, pouting. 

“She got what she deserved.” He growled before Shiro’s arm caught his eyes, the sight of it making his skin crawl. 

Because where the Dryad had bite him, the flesh was slowly becoming brown and the blood actually stopping from oozing from it, as if suddenly stopped from pouring out instead of coagulating. It didn’t feel normal at all. 

“Shiro, your arm.” He cried out, grabbing his arm to hold it in the faint light and see better; Shiro tensed beside him and the flesh in Keith’s hand felt less and less supple as second went by, their stiffness and inactivity alerting Allura who had resumed climbing up, the stairs stretching cheekily further than it should have been. 

“Boys, we should be moving!” She shout at them, still holding Lance on her shoulders with his wounds still dripping slightly on her clothes. 

“I agree, I’m feeling woozy.” Lance complained, from where his head was hanging down.

“Something happening to his arm!” He cried out to Allura, Shiro looking confused and panicked as the brown trickled to his fingers and become unable to clench his fingers, as if they stiffened like pieces of wood.

He urged Shiro higher, so Allura wouldn’t have to move Lance further from where he was still apathetically being held and the whole situation made Keith sick because even the texture of Shiro’s arm began to change, became rough and sturdy under his fingers. 

“I can’ feel my hand anymore. I... I can’t move it either.” Shiro said through gritted teeth as he was gripping his arm tightly in his other hand, fingers spasming nervously. The brown was slowly creeping up towards his elbow, being nearly halfway to it. 

He hears Allura gasps at the sight of it and Lance’s pained groan as she shifted him slightly and even him sucked in a breath at the sight of Shiro’s arm. It was slowly changing into wood; _his brother was turning into wood_. 

“Oh, this is bad.” Lance said, barely able to lift his head from where he was laying over Allura’s shoulders. 

“This is definitely something I have to agree with you.” Allura looked and sounded very somber and there was something in her eyes, her so very expressive eyes that made Keith’s heart clench. 

“Can we do something about it? We can’t let Shiro transform into a tree!” He shouted at them, earning himself a half nervous, half annoyed glare from Allura. It quickly transformed into a more subdued one and there were tears gleaming in her eyes. 

“There _is_ a solution but I am sure you won’t appreciate it. Neither of you.”

“Whatever it is, if it mean I can leave this place as a human then I’ll do anything.” Shiro affirmed, shoulders taunt and gaze made of steel. 

“The Dryad venom is in your blood, Shiro. It is slow to change you because you still have some of the Witch’s quintessence clinging to you and hindering it somewhat but… Once it reaches your heart it’ll be over for you. And I have no antivenom on me, I don’t have anything to cure you. The only solution…”

“I won’t be able to do it.” Lance softly said, head hanging low now, his complexion pale and sweat pearling his forehead. 

“And it would be difficult for Shiro.” Allura stated as she watched the poison reaching above Shiro’s elbow. 

“What are you talking about?” Keith was becoming tired of not understanding their points but the sudden lack of colors in Shiro’s face made him hesitate; would it be that hard? 

“If you get rid of the afflicted part, then the venom would have no way to go further.” Shiro said slowly, fear mixed with determination clear on his face. 

It took only a few seconds for Keith's brain to catch on and his blood became ice cold. No... Why?! Why did Shiro have to be amputated? It wasn't fair, nothing was in this place. He really wished he could take Shiro's ailment for him, so his brother wouldn't be suffering yet again. 

"We need to be quick." Allura's voice snapped him out of his spiral and he looked at her with bewilderment. "Neither Coran, Hunk nor Pidge can do it, they're already outside and I won't be endangering them by having them come back down, who knows what could happen. Lance is currently incapacitated and my bayard is not suitable for such work. Shiro won't be able to do it either. 

"It needs to be you, Keith. I know what I'm asking of you, I understand the weight of it; but Shiro's life depends on you. I would never ask you to do it in any other circumstances but we're lacking time. There is no way to guarantee Shiro's safety if we leave the Court right now; maybe we'll be stalling it, maybe it'll spread twice as fast-"

"I get it." Keith snapped, cutting her off. "I absolutely hate the idea and I hate you for both considering it and making me do it. But I only have a knife on me."

"Take my bayard." She handed him the strange device she had been using as whip, continuing despite his doubts. "It's shape changes depending on the individual and I am absolutely sure yours will fit our situation."

Keith was hesitant but seeing as the venom was progressing further up his forearm, slowly reaching for the shoulder. They didn't have much time before nothing could be done for Shiro. Keith snatched the bayard from her hand, following her short instructions about it and thinking hard for something useful, something that could help. 

The sudden weight of the sword in his hand surprised him, nearly making him drop it all together but he strengthened his clutch on the grip but stopped for a moment to look at Shiro before doing anything. His brother had gotten the good idea of making a tourniquet around his arm with his belt and was tightening it as far as he possibly could before nodding to Keith; it was now or never it seemed. 

He doesn’t quite register what he had done, what happened for a short moment; one instant there is blood spraying everywhere and Shiro is screaming, his arm is laying on the stairs a few steps down from them, blood still seeping from it slowly and soaking the wood that it had become. 

He pockets the bayard as Allura husher them forwards, Keith shouldering Shiro’s weight as he was slumping from the pain and the blood loss and he heard himself murmuring encouragements and comforted each pained sounds he was making. The staircase became shorter and he could see the silhouette of his friends waiting for them, illuminated from behind by the rising sun; the light and fresh air, so different from the noxious one below seemed to pull Shiro from his shock slightly as his pace became faster, stronger. 

They were finally going out; beaten up, broken in different ways but alive. Together. They had fought off and won their battle together and now there were all getting out of this deadly place. Tears were threatening to fall but he paid no mind; letting gravity do the trick. He wasn’t going to stop them or be ashamed of feeling relief over being finally free. 

Falling into his friends arms, gathered in a tight group hug and crying about their new freedom felt liberating. He didn’t even heard the screeching of tires a few meters away from them. Because they were going home. 

They were going home and he was going to date the shit out of Hunk.

**Author's Note:**

> Any questions pertaining to the stories shall be asked in the comments and I'll be answering to them the best I can while avoiding spoilers for the next chapters ;3
> 
> The ones more pertinent to the stories shall be put in the beginning note of the next chapter.


End file.
